


The Devil Be Blind (2020 Revamp)

by GrumblingGeek



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Foggy Nelson & Karen Page Friendship, Foggy Nelson Is a Good Bro, Karen Page Knows Matt is Daredevil, Major Original Character(s), Marvel Universe, Matt Murdock & Foggy Nelson Friendship, Minor Frank Castle/Karen Page, New York City, Original Character(s), Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Plot, Protective Matt Murdock, Shameless Smut, Top Matt Murdock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:41:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26395084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumblingGeek/pseuds/GrumblingGeek
Summary: Charlie, an aspiring photojournalist, is rescued one night by a masked stranger and tossed into a world she never knew existed (or really wanted to be a part of) only to realize that telling the truth isn't always as easy as it sounds.
Relationships: Matt Murdock/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Devil Be Blind](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/681448) by GrumblingGeek. 



> Hello All!
> 
> It'ssss baaaccck. 
> 
> I'm excited to announce that I will be rewriting / finishing The Devil Be Blind Series. It will be continued via this link. It's been a long time coming and I finally have time to get it going and excited to see it come to fruition. 
> 
> For former readers: I definitely recommend reading back through the series, although the first few chapters will be a repeat. I'm cleaning up the story, merging chapters, and revising the plot so there is new information. 
> 
> Story Prologue:
> 
> TDBB is set in a slight AU to the path of the show Daredevil. I basically have collected the traits / story points that I enjoyed the most and plopped them into my rendition. To answer some questions from readers of the old series:
> 
> TDBB takes place in a rough Season 1-esque Daredevil, before Elektra and the Defenders. This allows me to focus on a smaller cast of characters before they got an in-depth, complicated history and also keep Matt's sick OG black outfit. The one new thing is that both Karen and Foggy already know Matt is Daredevil and have moved past it. 
> 
> I think that's all the deviates from the canon show so far. Please feel free to comment any questions and I will answer to the best of my ability :) 
> 
> Enjoy~

Charlie was late.

Charlie was  _ always  _ late.

The clock kept steadily ticking as she sprinted out of the subway tunnel and whirled around at the street corner trying to gather her bearings. She wasn’t familiar with this part of the city and her eyes frantically flicked between signs searching for something she recognized.  _ Where the hell am I?  _ Her eyes finally found purchase on a sign hanging above an old grocery store that read: 

Jacob’s

Hell’s Kitchen’s Number One Stop for Fresh Produce

Charlie glanced in the dirty window at the flies that buzzed over Jacob’s ‘fresh’ produce. “Fresh produce my  _ ass _ ,” she muttered as she whipped out her phone to open Google Maps, hurriedly typing in the address of the store and then zooming out to see which intersection she was on. Judging by the map, she should be near the building where the interview to determine the rest of her life was to be held. And she would be late. Of course. 

She scurried across the street in the general direction of where the map had indicated while trying to ruthlessly calm her unruly hair into some semblance of a ponytail. “Stop, misbehaving. I  _ grew _ you.” She hissed to herself as she rounded a corner. “Don’t be so ungrateful.” The sight of a large, brick building stopped her dead in her tracks. 

There it was.

Stapleton’s Newspaper.

Only the best the city had to offer in undercover news, and what Charlie hoped would kick start her career into the world of photojournalism.

Or you know, reject her for being late to her interview and kick her to the curb to live out the rest of her life as a starving artist begging for scraps outside of Greenwich Village.

I mean, whatever works.

Charlie glanced at her phone: 6:39.  _ Shit.  _ The interview was supposed to start at 6:30. She pulled open the heavy glass doors and practically ran to the receptionist’s desk, not even stopping to enjoy the beautiful interior of the classic brick building.

“Hi, umm, Hello,” She struggled to get the words out, out of breath from the run. “Charlotte Evedyn. I’m here for an interview with a-” She rummaged through her messenger back and pulled out a scrap of paper, smudged with coffee from that morning. “-a Mr. Renner?” She hoped her face wasn’t too flushed from the New York winter wind, but she assumed she probably resembled a mad woman fighting for her sanity. 

The receptionist glanced over her large framed glasses and raised a pristine eyebrow. “You’re late.”

“I know. And I am  _ very  _ sorry. I’m new to the city and it was much harder to navi-”

“Upstairs. 8th floor. Take two lefts and walk down the skyhall. His room is the 4th on the right.”

“Yes, of course, thank you!”

Charlie sped to the closest elevator and pressed a rather large button rapidly for the 8th floor. Elevator music began to play. It was horrendous. Rocking back and forth on her toes, she took this opportunity to glance at the reflective walls and take in what was a messy and windswept interpretation of the outfit she had meticulously put together earlier that day. Her high-waisted black dress pants had cat hair scattered throughout, and the blue blouse she had thrown on was wrinkled and limp. Her thick, curly hair was frizzing from the humidity on the city streets, and was sticking up in places it really should have behaved. Her skin was flushed from the cold and her eyes a tad bit glassy and red rimmed from the wind. The only makeup she had bothered to put on was mascara and some light pink lipstick that she hoped was improving her rushed appearance instead of looking like she was an Eastside Harlot out on the prowl. 

The elevator reached the 8th floor with a cheery ‘ding’ and Charlie burst out of it, practically galloping down the hall. She slowed right before she reached Mr. Renner’s office and took a deep breath.  _ Here goes nothing. _ With what she hoped was a confident posture and not the bundle of nerves she felt in her stomach, she took a deep breath, rapped three times on the heavy oak door, and heard the crisp “Come in.”

His office was large with a view of the street that allowed her to see a bit of the Manhattan skyline. The sun was already setting and she knew that soon the temperature would be steadily dropping. It was going to be a cold December, definitely not like the ones she was used to in North Carolina. Mr. Renner himself looked to be a man in his mid-sixties with a gentle smile and a well groomed suit. His circle glasses gave him the look of a wise owl, and his blue eyes crinkled when he saw Charlie stumble in her unfamiliar heels.

“Ah, you must be Miss. Evedyn?” His voice was friendly as she straightened herself, recovering from her stumble, and approached him with an outstretched hand.

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry I’m late. This doesn’t happen normally.” Only a white lie. Charlie barely ever made it somewhere on time. It was a fatal flaw. Mr. Renner took her hand firmly in his own and gave it a brisk shake. 

“It’s fine. I understand you’re new to the city?” Charlie nodded and he smiled, his eyes almost completely invisible due to the grin. “It takes a minute getting used to,” he continued. “Did you bring a portfolio?”

“Of course!” She pulled a black binder from her messenger bag and set it on his desk. She had spent most of her life so far building that portfolio, and she resisted the urge to bite her already short nails as he pulled it towards him. 

“Please, sit, Miss. Evedyn,” he gestured to one of the high backed leather chairs across from his desk and Charlie sunk into it. She studied his face as he sifted through her work. Years of photography school and thousands of dollars later, Charlie had graduated from a prestigious art school and taken a leap of faith when she hopped on a train to New York City, hoping to pursue her dream somewhere where the news actually relayed the truth. After hours of research and interviewing professionals in the field, she discovered that Stapleton’s was one of the few companies in the city that actually worked to get accurate and timely stories out to their readers. It seemed to be a great place to start a journey that would hopefully end with her running her own company one day. 

“I’m impressed,” Mr. Renner stated, after a few long moments. He flipped through the photos, careful to not bend the pages. “These are extraordinary. I’ve never seen pictures this detailed.” Charlie beamed under his praise. “You must tell me how you got access to the Matterhorn Estate? I thought it was barred from the press?”

Almost as quick as her response to his praise, Charlie felt her face go beet red. “It is. I umm,  _ acquired  _ access to the facility and once I was inside-” She picked at her nails, her hands a constant flurry of motion in her lap. “-it was fairly easy to get where I needed to go.” Mr. Renner’s expression was unreadable and Charlie found herself blabbering as she struggled to explain the situation. “They put all of their focus on their barriers, so there really wasn’t much security inside. That’s the issue with places that think they’re impenetrable. They don’t bother to set up precautions within their walls.” She hoped he didn’t ask her to elaborate on her knowledge of fortresses. That was not a conversation meant for her first interview.

Mr. Renner seemed unfazed by her confession and merely sat back in his seat, crossing his arms. “Acquired?”

“Yeah, I did a lot of rock climbing and parkour when I was in college. So, it just kinda-” Charlie waved her hand in the air, “-  _ came _ to me.” She let out a nervous smile, hoping he wouldn’t think too harshly about her means to an end. 

“Ah, I see.” He reached to flip through the pages once more, looking at her from over his glasses. “Well, sometimes...you have to get your hands a bit dirty to get to the truth.”

Charlie let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding, relieved that he understood.

After a few more minutes of sifting and a few questions about other projects, he sat back in his chair and removed his glasses. “Well, your work certainly speaks to your eye. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen such potential in someone so young, and I’d love to see how you work with my team, Miss Evedyn. We have assembled here some of the most talented journalists and photographers in the country, and I believe that you would be a strong asset. When can you start?”

Charlie’s mouth dropped open. She quickly closed it and shook her head. “Anytime. Tomorrow. Tonight.” She blurted before her mind had time to tell her to shut up. “I have no plans.”

Mr. Renner chuckled. “Well, Miss. Evedyn-”

“Charlie.” she interrupted. “ You, er, can call me Charlie.”

“Well, Charlie. I will see you here tomorrow, 9am. Sharp.” He raised his eyebrow as if to challenge her to be late again.  _ Hell no,  _ she thought.  _ Tomorrow begins the first day of the rest of my life. _

* * *

_ Rrrring. _

_ Rrrrring. _

_ Rrrrrrring. _

“Hello?” A female voice answered the cal,l and Charlie grinned as she hurried along the city streets on her way home from the interview.

“Gen, you’re never gonna believe it. I got the job!” Charlie screamed into the receiver. She could picture Genevieve sitting on their couch at home holding the phone away from her ear and scowling. Something she did often, when Charlie was around. 

“How? Do they know that you’re barely functioning when it comes to doing the most basic of tasks?” Her deadpan voice made Charlie break out into a grin, even if the words sounded harsh to a normal person. This was just the way Gen interacted with people - her and Charlie had been best friends since grade school.

“For your information, I only put wax paper in the oven that  _ one time. _ ” She heard Gen chuckle into the receiver. Charlie could barely contain her excitement. Finally, things seemed to be going her way. This was it. This was her big break. 

“Reeeowww-”

“Is that Jabberwocky?” Charlie asked, looking both ways before darting across a busy street. “ _ Does he miss his mommy, put him on the phone, the little baby- _ ” her voice had taken on a high-pitched baby squeal as she attempted to communicate to Jabber on the other side of the line, but Gen was having none of that. 

“Charlie, if you do not desist from whispering sweet nothings to our cat I will stab you in the eye.”

Ah, Genevieve. A star model for the perfect roommate. 

Charlie brushed off the empty threat. “Well, anywho, I should be home shortly, do you need anything from the store?” She was a few blocks from the apartment but was enjoying the crisp night air and had no intentions of going straight home. At least not until she was armed with pastries and alcohol to pacify Genevieve’s horrendous attitude. 

“Nah, Finn brought over some cupcakes earlier in a desperate attempt for me to get back together with him. I proceeded to tell him off about his awful habits and ungodly smell before kicking him out of the apartment. Kept the cupcakes though. That shit is good.” Charlie could almost hear Gen’s smirk at the fact that she had outwitted yet another member of the male species with her startling good looks and charm. The sound of a scream echoed over the receiver and Charlie groaned.

“Are you watching Criminal Minds again?”

“Yeah they’re helping me come up with ideas of where to dispose of your body if you keep shaving your legs in the sink.” 

“Don’t hate me ‘cause I’m flexible.” Charlie rounded the last curb towards home and approached the alley that she typically took to get home faster. It was darker than usual tonight because one of the lamps had flickered out for the last time. “Look, Gen, I gotta go. I'm almost home. Can you boil some water for some potatoes?”

“I am not contributing to your potato addiction.”

“Ah, ah, ah. It’s not an addiction. It’s a lifestyle - and one I intend to keep.” 

Genevieve groaned and hung up the phone. 

The wind whipped around Charlie and she pulled her coat tighter around her. Usually, a dark alley would seem like a bad idea but Charlie was so ecstatic about being able to pay the bills that she figured she would be fine. Plus, she took this alley home all the time and the worst she had seen was a hobo snorting cocaine that one time so it seemed pretty safe to her. It wasn’t until she was halfway through the alley that she noticed the men following her.

There were three of them. All clad in black with ski masks drawn over their heads. That would be your first clue, right? Charlie pretended not to notice and quickened her pace keeping her eyes on the lit street just barely out of her reach. If she didn’t show fear, perhaps the men wouldn’t speed up to chase her. Perhaps they’d let her go.

She was wrong. 

By the time the first man broke out into a run, Charlie dropped her bag and sprinted towards the light. A part of her was hoping that he would abandon the chase and go straight for her bag but clearly this man wasn’t after any money.

He wanted her.

Despite years of parkour, Charlie was not fast enough to outrun a grown man. He lunged for her and grabbed her around the waist tackling her to the ground with a grunt. His hand was over her mouth and the other pinned her hands above her head before she had time to react. He had flipped her over onto her back, straddling her over her hips. She tried to buck him off but it was no use, he weighed easily 50 pounds more than her. The other two men appeared in her line of vision and Charlie continued to wrestle in his grasp, determined to go out fighting.

“The boss is gonna be happy we caught ‘er so easily,” One of the men muttered. His voice was deep, raspy and had a slight accent to it that Charlie couldn’t place. “We can finish this thing before it gets started. Jones, phone the others. Let them know we got ‘er.” The man speaking leaned down towards Charlie’s face, while the third whipped out his cell phone, moving a strand of her hair out of her face and Charlie shivered, glaring at him with as much force as she could muster. The man chuckled and she could smell his rank breath on her cheek. “Well, ain’t you a pretty one?”

“Think we can have some fun with her before they show up?” The man straddling Charlie asked, his eyes wandering down her face and resting on her breasts which were showing a little more than they should due to the struggle.  _ Oh hell no,  _ Charlie thought,  _ I’d die first.  _

“I don’t see why not,” the first man responded. “You caught her, you can have first ride.” 

Charlie’s eyes shot between the men, her muffled protests ignored by them all. The third man, Jones, stood quietly behind the first, finished with his call but the small smile he sported scared Charlie much more than the harsh words of the others. She made another desperate attempt to get out from beneath the man weighed down on her hips but he merely laughed at her attempt.

Despite her thrashing, the man on top of her released her hands to begin unzipping his pants. The other two men simply watched, confident that even with the release of her hands, Charlie wasn’t going anywhere

_I am not going down easy._

Charlie clenched her fist and used what little core strength she had to reel back and nail him once in the face to try and throw him off guard. 

“God, you are a feisty little thing,” the man laughed, wiping a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth before slamming his hand hard against her head, causing her world to spin.

The first man to speak moved behind her, wrestling her hands back and holding them down. “Antonio is going to love you,” he whispered, his breath hot on her ear, but Charlie was more distracted by the man on her hips as he lifted himself off her pelvis and shimmied his pants down to his knees. He still had one hand against her mouth but used the other now to fish through his boxers, reaching for his penis. 

Charlie thrusted upward as hard as she could while he was off balance. She slammed her teeth down into the fleshy part of his palm, clamping down until she tasted blood. The man recoiled in shock giving Charlie the opportunity to release a bloodcurdling scream. One, she hoped, someone would be able to hear. 

This warranted her another hard hit to the head and the tying of a leather belt around her mouth to keep her from screaming. She clamped down on it, not really sure what her plan was now but maybe she could chew through it? 

The man holding her hands said something in a foreign language to pelvis man and Charlie felt herself being lifted, her head ringing. Within a matter of short moments the men had tied her hands over her head and to the fire escape of the adjacent building. 

_ Well, there goes my chance of getting out of here.  _ With the new restraints, her hope for escape had changed from slim to none, but she refused to give up hope. 

The knots dug into her wrists and she twisted and pulled trying to loosen the holds. The men laughed at her attempts. The man who had first ‘dibs’ now had his penis fully out and in his hands and was idly stroking it, working to get it hard. and she bit back a sob.  _ I will not cry,  _ Charlie thought,  _ he will not get that satisfaction.  _ She glared at him as he approached her, not even bothering to undo the button on her pants but rather ripping it off and pushing the fabric down past her knees. 

“I would say that this won’t hurt, sweetheart, but it will.” He whispered into her ear, his breath stank of eggs and Charlie gagged. If she had the ability to spit on him, she would. Instead she settled for glaring and wiggling around so it was harder for him to get a good grip on her. She put as much weight into her hands as possible, still holding on to the slim hope that they may break but all she earned in response was the rapid tightening of the rope until her hands began to tingle. 

“Stop  _ moving,”  _ He grunted, shoving her back until he was able to pin her against the brick wall. Despite herself Charlie’s eyes wandered down to find his disgusting dick red and at the ready against his belly button. She felt nauseous and it wasn’t from the blows to her head. 

The man forcefully spread her legs and Charlie choked back a sob as she struggled to close them. Once he had wedged himself between them he hooked his dirty fingers through the side of her panties, meeting her eyes with a cheshire grin before squeezing her ass with a chuckle. “Feels nice.”  _ You just wait until I’m free of this,  _ she cursed him, her eyes boring into his own.  _ Then I’ll show you what  _ **_feels nice_ ** _.  _

A loud thump followed by a man’s shout drew the attention of Charlie’s assaulter.

“Hank! Get out of there! Run!” It was the first man, frantic, running towards them both. “He’s here! He’s found us!” The man who was currently groping her butt- Hank- turned to look at the runner and that was all Charlie needed. She thrusted upward with all her strength nailing him in the groin with her knee. When he doubled over, clutching his beloved penis, she kneed him in the face, causing him to crumble over onto the dirty alley floor.

“Damn,  _ bitch!” _ He straightened up, raising his fist to hit her again when a black blur shot down from the roof and landed on his back. Charlie struggled to get the weight off her arms by standing on her tiptoes and wiggling her fingers, trying to bring blood back into them. The man in black quickly dispatched Hank before turning to the other men.

One pulled a gun but within seconds the man in black had disabled him with a few short punches and a kick to the face, rendering him unconscious. The last man, Jones, tried to make a run for it but the man in black had him down in a matter of seconds. The entire fight was quick, no longer than two minutes but Charlie could hardly process it. Maybe it was the concussion or the adrenaline pumping through her blood but the man was incredibly fast. Finally, satisfied that his opponents were down, he turned his attention to Charlie.

The alley was silent except for the typical city noises of sirens and shouting as the man approached her. His footsteps were nearly silent, he was familiar with passing unnoticed. He was tall, well muscled but not bulky and she was suddenly all too aware of the vulnerable position she was in and felt her body tense. If it came to a fight, she would give it her best shot. He had a simple black hat pulled down over his eyes and seemed to be wearing what was a simple long sleeved black shirt and pants.  _ How the hell does he see with that on?  _ Charlie wondered as he came to a stop directly before her. Charlie tried her best to convey what she hoped was a threatening glare in his direction but she knew that she was completely at his disposal here. Plus, she wasn’t entirely sure he would  _ see _ it since his eyes were completely covered. But it was the thought that counts. 

He tilted his head at her, like an intelligent puppy, before reaching out towards her. Charlie reflexively shrunk back and he froze, his hand still floating in the air. 

“Hey, I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered, his voice deep and gruff but not unkind. “I’m just going to untie you, ok?” 

Charlie didn’t respond, her head swimming as he reached up, loosening the bonds around her hands. She would have been grateful, if she could feel them. Instead of letting go of her immediately he wrapped his large hands around her wrists, helping her lower her arms to her side. It was like he could tell that she had lost all feeling in them. Once her hands were down he undid the belt from her mouth, dropping it to the ground. Charlie bent to pick up her pants and let out a groan, reaching up to clutch her head. It hurt like a  _ bitch _ . 

“Are you alright?” The man asked. It wasn’t a threatening question but it was one Charlie didn’t really want to answer. She didn’t really want to talk at all. Or try to comprehend what had just happened. She just wanted to get home.

“Define  _ alright. _ ” She hadn’t meant for it to come out so sharply, it wasn’t his fault she had been assaulted in an alley, but she turned away from him as she shifted back into her pants and tried to zip them up but to now avail. They were ruined and she was still on edge with him nearby. She hadn’t decided if he was a threat or not yet. 

He chuckled at her abruptness and backed up a few steps as if she had threatened him. She turned to face him. He was leaner than her original assumption. Muscular, but not overly. He had a nice smile, but men with nice smiles were the least of her worries right now. 

“Thanks,” Charlie muttered. “For helping me. And stuff. Thanks.”

He smiled again. “Do you want me to walk you home?”

Charlie raised an eyebrow. Yes, let’s let the suspicious man with a hat pulled down over his eyes walk her to her cheap apartment on the outskirts of Hell’s Kitchen. That would be sure to give Genevieve a heart attack. 

“Thanks for the offer but I really should be fine. Once I get to the main road it’s a straight shot.” She didn’t want to be alone again in the city but she wasn’t sure she could trust this man and she wasn’t sure she could stand for much longer. She could feel her legs shaking from her adrenaline dying down and her head was a relentless nightmare. “What’s your name if you don’t mind me asking? That way I can have a name for the wild story I’ll be spinning when my head clears up tomorrow morning.” 

The man smirked. “I think that would defeat the purpose of the mask.”

“Touche,” She responded, not really wanting to continue the conversation and certainly not trying to push her luck when she had narrowly avoided being seriously harmed with the first men she had encountered in the alley. “Well, see you around, thanks and . . . . stuff.” Charlie backed away from him towards the alley exit holding a peace sign as if she was a middle schooler saying bye to some friends after a long day and not a woman who had barely escaped being raped.  _ Smooth Charlie _ , she thought. _ Real smooth. _


	2. Chapter 2

Charlie unlocked her front door and slid into her apartment gently closing the door behind her and leaning against it. She took a few steadying breaths, the voice of Spencer Reid discussing something scientific and confusing drifting in from the living room settled her nerves. The simple mundane routine of watching Criminal Minds reruns with Gen every night made the last hour of her life seem like a horrible nightmare and not stark reality. She slumped down to the ground and hugged her knees, resting her head between her legs, trying to fend off a panic attack. She had nearly run the entire way home, pushing all thoughts of the men who had attacked her and the one who had saved her from her mind, any previous joy from her new job almost entirely forgotten. Jabber ran up to her purring and rubbing himself all over her legs shedding long grey cat hair on her already ruined black pants, as if sensing her distress.

"Hey, buddy," she murmured, rubbing under his chin just like he liked it. "Did you have a nice day watching peasants from the window?" Jabber meowed in response and continued purring. Charlie tried to ignore the dark rings around her wrist, evidence of the bonds that had rendered her useless earlier. The bruises would only get worse the next few days and she knew her face would probably look rather fucked. Guess she’d be wearing makeup on her first day of the new job. A good first impression until she dissolved into her usual troll-like self. 

"Charlie? Is that you?" Gen walked down their narrow hallway holding a cupcake and licking the icing. Her chin length ginger hair bounced as she crouched down until she was eye level with Charlie. Jabberwocky made a pass at the cupcake and she pushed him off, earning a curdling yowl. Gen responded by sticking her pinky in the icing and wiping it on Charlie's nose. "You look terrible." 

Charlie forced a smile, wiping off the icing. "Nice to see you too, Gen."

"What the hell happened?"

Charlie quickly recounted the night's events and watched as Gen sat back to let it all soak in. The moments that passed after she finished felt like years as Charlie waited for Gen to process.

When she finally spoke, she seemed neither surprised or overly concerned with the entire situation and honestly, Charlie wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting. Gen was once privy to a gas station robbery in South Charlotte where she stood eating a popsicle she had yet to pay for throughout the entire ordeal. When it was over, the only thing she had bothered to say was “Do I still have to pay for this?”

"We should get your head checked out. Just to be sure it's not serious." Gen reached out to gently touch the side of Charlie’s temple. She hissed at contact but Gen continued to feel around, ignoring Charlie’s discomfort. “You’re going to have a wicked shiner for your first day tomorrow.” 

Charlie groaned, completely forgetting that tomorrow was supposed to be her first day. "I know, I’m gonna have to wake up early to cover it with makeup. I think it’s fine, though.”

“Fine? I’m pretty sure you have a concussion.” 

“Guess I’ll just have to stay up and watch Spencer for a few more hours.”

Gen rolled her eyes but seemed satisfied with the fact that Charlie was able to make jokes. "You're lucky that dude was there. Otherwise it could have been much worse and I would have gained full custody of our cat. Do you have any idea who it could have been?”

“I mean, no but I don’t really know anyone in this city,” Charlie replied, thinking back to the short list of people she’d met in New York. “And no one who could fight like that.”

“Interesting,” Gen and her fell into a companionably silence and Charlie reached out to stroke Jabberwocky, who now lay between her and Gen purring loudly. She remembered the man’s rough hands as he released her burning wrists from the rope and the deep rumble of his voice as he bantered back against her attitude. Interesting indeed.

Gen stood up licking the remaining frosting from her fingers and offered a hand to Charlie. "Come on, I bought some brownie mix if you wanna help me whip it up. To celebrate your new job? And you still living, of course." 

Charlie lifted her brow and grabbed onto Gen's outstretched hand, allowing the other girl to help her up. "Didn't you just eat several desperation cupcakes?"

"I won't judge your poor diet choices if you don't judge mine, potato girl."

Eventually Gen went to bed with a stomach full of brownies and Charlie was left alone with her thoughts and a very fluffy cat. She had curled up on their balcony overlooking Manhattan with Jabber asleep on her lap. Sleeping would have been hard enough with the excitement of a new job lurking over her but that combined with what she had experienced that night made for bad dreams and cold sweats. She found her mind wandering to the mysterious masked man and what he was doing. Was he home with his family? Asleep? Or still out there saving lives and fighting crime?

She supposed it didn't matter, in the end. Charlie had no intention of ever seeing him again and honestly, after the circumstances of their meeting, she would be perfectly happy not to. 

* * *

Charlie's first day at Stapleton's was nothing like she imagined. She arrived to work at a fashionable time of 9:03a m and was put straight to work with perhaps the strangest group of people she had ever met. Renner assigned her to assist the breaking news team, a team he thought her quick eye and ‘questionable strategies’ could be best put to work. It was the smallest section of the company since they primarily focused on politics and large scale crime.

The team was tiny, only about seven people including her. It consisted of three high-strung reporters, another photographer, and two dorky writers who did each other's editing. The reporters, two women and an extremely flamboyant gay man named Lucas argued over what stories they wanted by the grand windows overlooking the city. The writers, Sarah and Drew had their heads bent over a story that was just released by their rival company and the photographer, Daniel, fiddled with his camera in the corner. They greeted Charlie with open arms and introduced her to her duties and responsibilities as a future Stapleton's photojournalist. 

“So,” Drew was saying as he punched a few more buttons on the giant copy machine. “You just press this and then ‘enter’ and BOOM! Copies!”

Charlie merely nodded in assent. She had already told him twice that she knew how to make copies but he seemed so excited to show her that she just couldn’t say no. That and it was her first day and she desperately wanted to make some new friends in the city. 

“Thank you, Drew. I’m sure Charlotte will be able to figure it out.” A pleasant male voice spoke up from behind them and Charlie turned to see the man introduced to her earlier as the primary photographer for the firm, the position Charlie most wanted to learn about. 

“Daniel, right?” Charlie gestured to him and the young photographer broke out into a smile. He was handsome, a bit on the thin side with beautiful angled eyes and a goofy grin that Charlie was sure had gotten him out of a lot of trouble growing up. 

He nodded at her. “Yeah, that’s right. Already committing all our names to memory?”

“I mean, there’s only seven of you and you’re all pretty distinct,” Charlie responded. She had always been good with putting names to faces. 

“Drew!” The female writer, Sarah, poked her head into the copy room. “I need you to proofread this article before we can publish it.”

“And with that, I must depart,” Drew said, moving out of the room. “Charlie, I leave you in capable hands. Dan’s been here longer than most of us, he can finish off the tour splendidly.” Drew clapped Daniel on the back and followed Sarah back to her desk leaving Daniel and Charlie alone. 

“Well,” Daniel said. “Since I’ve been volunteered, have you been to the roof yet?” 

Charlie shook her head.

“You’ve got to check it out,” he continued. “It’s one of my favorite places in the city.” 

Charlie followed the man up a few flights of stairs, Daniel pointing out things of interest along the way. He was incredibly easy to talk to and Charlie felt her guard dropping. She liked him, it would be easy to become friends. 

“And here we are,” Daniel swung open an emergency rooftop access door and the view immediately took Charlie’s breath away. Although they weren’t in a skyscraper by any means, the surrounding buildings were of equal or lower height and it allowed for a beautiful view of Manhattan. Charlie took in the sights of the buildings and the sky, the bustle of the street was harder to hear from up here and the city could be deemed almost peaceful. She imagined it must be beautiful at night.

“I come up here a lot,” Daniel said. “To take photos and often just to clear my head if we're working on a busy story. Sometimes the office can get too loud and it’s hard to think.” 

“I bet,” she responded. “It’s beautiful up here.” 

“Don’t tell the others,” he whispered, playfully. “I’m sure they know about it but they never think to look for me up here so I can usually escape.”

Charlie laughed. “Your secret’s safe with me. That is if you teach me how to become a great photojournalist.”

He looked at her, his eyes crinkling in the corner. “Deal.” 

They stood there in silence for a few minutes, taking in the view. Coming from a much smaller city, Charlie didn’t think she’d ever get used to this. There was something spectacular about New York City. Maybe that’s what lured people like her from all over the world. New York seemed to hold the answers to the questions she’d been asking all her life. 

“Alright,” Daniel broke the silence first. “I’m sure they’ll freak out if I keep you away for too long. Can’t have the rookie slacking off yet.” 

Charlie laughed as he led her back down to the stairs. She glanced back over her shoulder, taking in Daniel’s hiding place once more before descending back into the brick building, making a mental note to come back later with her camera.

* * *

The rest of the day flew by and soon came to an end. Charlie prolonged leaving for as long as possible but eventually knew she had to bite the bullet as it grew darker by the minute. 

She wasn't ready to walk home again.

Gen had offered to walk over and pick her up since they didn't own a car but that meant she had to take the night off from her job at the shop and Charlie didn't want her to miss work. They were short enough on cash as it was. Besides, the walk wasn't that long and she would stay on the main roads this time. It would be a pinch longer to get home but Charlie had no intentions of ever stepping foot in that alley again. Or any alley, for that matter.

She grabbed her scarf and coat yelling a quick farewell to her new coworkers as she finally left the office. It was colder than it had been that morning and she drew the coat tighter around herself to try and keep in body heat. Her breath escaped her lips and steamed up to the sky reminding her of how she used to pretend she was a dragon as a child and chase her brother around the yard. Man, how times changed. 

The streets had already cleared out from rush hour due to her procrastination at leaving the office and she found herself jumping at every strange noise. She could have called a cab or taken a subway but she desperately needed to save her money. Every penny counted.

When a van pulled to a stop beside her on the empty road and the person in the passenger seat rolled down the window, Charlie immediately regretted her fiscal worries knowing full well that her life was more important than her wallet. It was one of those black pedophile vans parents warn their kids to avoid from a young age but it looked like it was in nice shape. There were no windows except for the ones in the front and Charlie instinctively backed up.  _ Bad sign, bad sign. _

"Umm, excuse me Miss, do you happen to know how to get to the Empire State Building from here? We appear to be dreadfully lost." The man lilted in a smooth British accent. 

Charlie stared at him blankly and when she finally realized what she was doing she cleared her throat. "Ahem, sorry. I, uh- I'm new to the area, sorry. I couldn't tell you." She smiled feebly, hoping he would get the hint and go away.

"Ah, well, that's too bad.” The words had barely escaped his mouth when two men jumped out of the back of the van and ran towards her. She didn't even have time to comprehend what was happening before the first one picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. Charlie immediately went into attack mode and began to kick and scream with every ounce of strength she had as the men threw her into the back of the van and got in after her. One of them immediately flipped her onto her belly twisting her arms painfully behind her back and binding them with a coil of rope. Her wrists burned from yesterday's attack and she gritted her teeth in pain, feeling warm blood trickle down her hands.

The other man pulled the doors shut behind him and the van lurched back onto the road as the first man tied a gag around Charlie's mouth and quickly bound her legs together at the ankles. 

"Now,  _ that's  _ how you get a job done." The Brit in the passenger seat exclaimed, clapping his hands. "And not a masked man in sight, might I add."

One of her captures snorted. "The fact that those three goons couldn't handle one 130lb woman is beyond me."

The other laughed. "Yeah, well, let's get her to the boss and get paid so we can get the hell out of this stinkin' city."

Charlie was sizing up the men in the back with her, currently trying to think of a way to get out of the car, when the man in the passenger seat screamed.

"Bradley, WATCH OUT!" 

Charlie didn't see the masked man standing in the middle of the road or the street lamp Bradley hit. In fact, she barely remembered the crash at all. She did remember the van flipping and her being airborne for a few precious seconds before slamming into the side of the van and blacking out.

She regained consciousness to find herself being carried away from the smoking van in the arms of someone she didn't recognize. Her head was tilted into his chest and she groaned, softly, the warm fabric brushing her lips.

“Shh, I’ve got you,” he soothed, laying her down in an alley off to the side of the crash and cutting through her bonds. As her eyes began to regain focus she realized her savior was the same man from the night before. Fully equipped with his confusing mask and endearing smirk.

"We have  _ got  _ to stop meeting like this." She croaked as he undid the gag around her mouth, his fingers lingering longer than necessary on her jawline. She tried to sit up but it only sent her head spinning and a sharp pain exploded in her ribcage. She let out a groan as she felt his hands gently lay her back down. 

"You shouldn't move, you probably have a concussion and several cracked ribs from the impact.” His touch was gentle but his delivery was matter of fact. Curt. “Not to mention the gash on your head and the minor cuts all over your body that are bleeding like the devil."

"Ugh, I don't have time for this." Charlie grumbled thinking about the stack of bills on her and Gen's kitchen table. Her new job apparently came with bad luck. 

"Tell that to your ribs." He stated as he positioned his arms around her waist and under her knees, standing up with an exaggerated grunt.

"Really?” Charlie snapped. “Was a grunt really necessary?" Despite her frustration she found her head once again resting against his chest, the world swimming around her. His heartbeat acting as a steady metronome, soothing her aching head back into submission.

“Glad to hear the crash didn’t deter your attitude,” he muttered, beginning to walk down the street. Charlie could hear sirens getting closer and had a fleeting thought that maybe they should wait for emergency services, talk to the police but the man led her and further and further from the scene and she didn’t have it in her to stop him. The world had begun to slow down but she felt like her body was going to snap in two. She wasn’t sure why she trusted this man as much as she did, he was a complete stranger, but he had saved her life twice in the past 48 hours. 

And so, Charlie felt herself slip out of consciousness, the steady beating of his heart and the firm grip on her body keeping her tethered to Earth but floating all the same.

* * *

Charlie awoke in a strange room, a blinding light drawing her out of her stupor. She was laying on a couch in what appeared to be a rather large apartment living room. She blinked and focused her eyes on a huge glowing billboard, visible through the windows.

“Wow,” She muttered. “That  _ sucks.”  _

“You’re awake. Good.” She tried to sit up, whipping her head towards the voice and immediately regretted it, a hand flying up to her temple. The man still wore his mask as he approached her, glass of water and towel in hand. “I cleaned your wounds as best as I could. If you take it easy the next couple of weeks you should heal just fine.”

“Where am I? Why didn’t you take me to the hospital?” 

“Judging by the fact that these men have now found you  _ twice  _ in what is arguably one of the biggest cities in the world, I figured they’d think to check the nearby hospitals after you were miraculously pulled out of a flaming car.”

Charlie brushed off his attitude. “They?”

“I think that’s a conversation for a later time.” He crouched down beside her and wriggled a hand under her back, slowly forcing her up into a half sitting position. He handed her the glass of water and then stood up, moving to sit in a chair across the room. “You must have a lot of questions.”

“I’d say that’s a fairly accurate assumption.” Charlie took a sip of the water, feeling it slide down her scratchy throat. “Starting with how the hell do you see with that hat pulled over your eyes?”

“Next question.”

“Seriously? You can’t skip questions.” His expression didn’t change as he stared at her. Or rather, faced her, since she had no idea what his eyes were doing. “Okaaaaay. . . I’ll file that one away for later. Is this your apartment?”

“It was the only place I knew I could protect you.”

Charlie figured that was his way of saying ‘yes’. Seemed logical except for the fact that she had no idea who he was and he could turn out to be the next Zodiac killer. If he was, though, he had had ample opportunity to do it the last two days. Why rescue someone if you were just going to turn around and murder them three days later? Seemed counterproductive. 

“Why are those men chasing me?”

“I don’t know for sure. From what I’ve gathered, it seems to stem back further than I thought, not necessarily a random obsession. Once you're fully rested, I’ll tell you what I  _ do _ know. You’ve had a rough night and you need to let it all soak in.” 

“What I  _ need _ to do is tell my roommate where I am.” She could picture Gen pacing their living room with an anxious Jabber yowling at the door, waiting for Charlie. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed but it had to be much longer than it should have taken for her to get home. Gen had probably called the police by now and was accusing them of being incompetent and useless for their lack of turning up with Charlie in hand. “Do you have a phone? Or know where mine is?” 

He replied by getting up and grabbing her bag from a barstool in the kitchen,handing it to her. 

“Thanks,” she said, rummaging through her bag. “I’m Charlie, by the way. Providing this is going to keep happening I figure you should know my name. And my emergency contacts.” She found her phone and pulled it out to find thirteen missed calls from Gen and several crude text messages all along the lines of: “If you don’t answer me in the next ten minutes I will personally come outside, find you, skin you alive, and then chop off all your appendages and feed them to the alligators I am certain live in the sewer.”

“Are you going to tell me your name, or should I just make one up?” Charlie asked texting a reply to Gen. She was half serious but stopped her message at his response. 

“You can call me whatever you please.”

Charlie glanced at him. “Seriously?” she scoffed. He was standing by the window facing her, but not perfectly. He was focusing a bit too high for her eye line. Interesting.“Well, if you say so. But you’re giving me an awful lot of power. I could just call you Asshat for the rest of my days and there would be nothing you could do about it.”

“With great power, comes great responsibility.”

Charlie grinned at his response, quickly sending a text to Gen and looking back up at him, her fingers cupping her chin like a mad scientist on the brink of discovery. She could barely contain the amount of devilish glee she got from thinking of horrific names she could refer to him as.

“Fine. I’ll call you. . . .” Her eyes wandered around the room. Searching for something, anything, that she could link to him and shape into a nickname worth giving after deciding that her other ideas were too vulgar. Her eyes finally settled on a tear in his shirt that revealed a little bit of the skin underneath. “Patch. I’ll call you Patch.”

“Patch? What kind of name is  _ Patch? _ ” 

“The kind that’s given to mysterious men who refuse to offer up  _ suitable  _ names for a replacement.” 

He snorted. “Fine.  _ Patch  _ it is. Now seriously, get some sleep. We’ll figure out what to do tomorrow. I’d let you sleep in my bed but I don’t want to risk hurting you more by moving you.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m not staying here.” 

Although she couldn’t see his face, she knew when she was being given a death stare. “Charlie, it’s almost 2am. I’m certainly not letting you walk home.”

“So I’m being held hostage here?” 

Patch groaned, rubbing his temples. “Why are you so  _ difficult _ ? You’ve suffered a traumatic few evenings and are sustaining multiple injuries. You’ve been brought to probably the safest place for you in the city and now you can’t just wait until a  _ reasonable  _ hour for me to take you home?”

Charlie grumbled under her breath, knowing he was right but wanting the last word anyway. “I’m fine, really.”

If she could see his eyes she was sure he would be rolling them. “You’re not. Neither physically or psychologically. Just  _ please _ let me take care of you for the night. We can figure the rest out tomorrow.” 

Charlie settled back down onto the couch, slipping her phone back in her bag after placating Gen with a message about how she was spending the night with some of her new coworkers for some lighthearted ‘bonding’. A weak excuse but not one Gen was willing to question at 2am. 

Patch took her silence as complacency and was already moving towards his room when Charlie called out to him.

“Thank you, Patch. For everything. Mostly for my life but for the other stuff too.”

He looked over his shoulder and gave her that now familiar smile. 

“It was my pleasure.” 

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

The first thing Charlie gained consciousness to was a pounding headache and aches in places she didn’t even know you  _ could _ ache. She groaned as she sat up in her bed, a fluffy cat curled up next to her.

Wait.

_ Her bed? _

Glancing at her torso she saw it was scattered with bandages. The major cuts on her body were covered in ACE wrap and Band Aids confirming that last night wasn’t a dream. 

_ What the hell? _

Jabber meowed at her movements and stretched dramatically before resituating to curl himself into a ball. Charlie stroked his head, a slip of fabric on her nightstand catching her eye. She grabbed it, running her fingers around the frayed edges. It was thin and worn from use. A  _ patch.  _ Charlie snorted. So, mystery man had a sense of humor after all. 

Gen burst into her room carrying a tray of assorted breakfast foods that only Gen would assemble. It consisted of two Frosted Flakes cereal bars, a slice of pizza, and a past-expired lump of mysterious fruit that vaguely resembled a banana. 

"Hey, sleepyhead, want some- whoa. What kind of party did you say you went to again?" Her eyes widened as she took in Charlie's bandages. "Wait, did something happen?" She put down the tray and crouched next to where Charlie lay in bed. “Did you get ravaged by the sexy mystery man currently sitting in our living room? Can’t say I’m not a bit jealous. All I did was lay on the couch with Jabber and watch reruns of  _ The Office _ .” Her red hair was in it's naturally curly state and as usual it complimented her green eyes perfectly. She was stunning but had a tendency to leave a trail of heartbreak wherever she went.

At the mention of the man, Charlie burst out of bed but immediately regretted the sudden movement. An assortment of sharp pains flared up throughout her body and she doubled over until they calmed to a dull throb, her head still spinning. Taking a deep breath she struggled to regain her composure as she stood up straight and turned to Gen. Speaking slowly, as if she had misunderstood, she uttered a single word:

“ _ What? _ ”

“Yeah, I don’t know. He knocked on the door at the ungodly hour of 10am asking for you. Said it was urgent. I told him I hadn’t heard you come home last night and wasn’t sure if you were even here but he said he was fairly positive you were and that he would wait for you to wake up.” Gen shrugged. “He’s definitely not what I considered your taste but hey-” She threw her hands in the air and backed out of the room slowly. “I’m not one to judge. I’ll brew you some coffee.”

When Gen was gone Charlie slowly made her way over to her closet. Her shirt was shredded and she tried not to think about what Patch had seen last night when he had bandaged her up. It was Saturday, so she didn’t need to worry about rushing to work (she would have been beyond late anyway) so she slipped into an oversized sweater and a pair of black leggings. Glancing in the mirror warranted a small groan. She could go shopping with the bags under her eyes and that was only if you ignored the multiple cuts and bruises on her face and neck. Her hair was the size of Jupiter, a ball of knots and frizz. Juxtaposed to Gen, Charlie was the definition of 'hot mess '. Minus the 'hot' part of course. She struggled to run a comb through her mane before twisting it up into what she hoped would pass for a bun. With her hair pulled back the bruises stood out more on her face and neck and she groaned in defeat. Fantastic. 

Slowly making her way down the hallway, Charlie expected to hear the chatter of voices but was greeted with nothing but awkward silence when she reached the living room. A heavy aroma of coffee filled the space and Charlie wanted nothing more than to lose herself in it but was flashed back to reality when she saw Gen leaning over the kitchen counter with a mug that said “Bite Me. Her tarot cards were spread across the counter as well as a book labeled ‘Better Living Practices for the Modern City Witch’ and Charlie inwardly groaned. Gen literally couldn’t act normal for  _ one morning _ . 

Although Gen had pursued acting in college, they hadn’t been in the city long enough for her to land any gigs so she had had to rely on her other talents to get work. Unfortunately her other talents were reading people and spouting bullshit so she had taken up a job as a fortune teller in a nearby crystal shop. 

The thing was, although Gen was the ultimate skeptic of her own (and others) abilities to predict future occurrences, she was really,  _ really  _ good at it. Gen believed she was scamming gullible people out of money, Charlie personally believed that Gen had whatever sixth sense writers ranted about in the books Gen’s coworkers sent her home with to study. This weekends, of course, was about as occult as you could get and Charlie hoped this man didn’t think they were total freaks. 

Gen was eyeballing the gentleman who currently sat on their couch tapping his fingers nervously. It took Charlie all of about thirty seconds to recognize that Gen was being about as friendly as Gen got, which was to say she had tried avoiding verbally attacking their guest about opposing ideas and settled to politely glare at him from behind her work paraphernalia across the room. And Gen wondered why people were intimidated by her.

Charlie turned to the man and could tell immediately it wasn’t Patch. His hair was too long to not show under a simple hat and he was rather soft around the middle. Not to mention he lacked facial hair where Patch had dark stubble adjourning his jaw. Still, she had no clue who he was or why he was here.

He stood when she entered the room and extended his hand to her.

“Hello, you must be Charlie. Pleasure. The name’s Foggy. Foggy Nelson.”

Charlie stared at his hand for a moment before shaking it. He glanced expectantly at Gen as if he expected her to suddenly greet him with open arms now that Charlie was here. Gen settled for the continuation of glaring and took a sip of coffee.

“Have you guys not already introduced yourselves?” Charlie asked, moving to sit at the kitchen table.

Gen’s eyes followed Foggy as he approached her, hand outstretched. “I offered to give him a free reading. Told him I saw darkness in his future or whatever.”

“And I happily declined,” Foggy responded. 

“Foggy, Gen. Gen, Foggy.” Charlie twirled her hand, not surprised that Gen was about as conversational as a brick wall to new men.

Foggy was still standing awkwardly opposite of the counter of Gen with his hand outstretched. Gen stared at it like it was the most horrendous thing she had ever seen. Another sip of coffee.

“Gen doesn’t do _ touching _ .” Charlie stated nonchalantly as she reached across the table to grab a Charlie the Unicorn mug from the rack. Gen had gotten it for her for Christmas last year after Charlie had had an incident with a champagne cork in college that had nailed her between the eyes. It had left a mark for  _ weeks _ that Gen had thought was the funniest thing; a Charlie the Unicorn for her Charlie the Unicorn. Ridiculous.”Although she doesn’t believe her fortunes hold any merit she still uses her alleged ‘sixth sense’ as a way to stop people from touching her. Says the human touch gives her  _ visions.” _

Foggy retracted his hand and wiped it on his pants awkwardly.

“Okay, it’s a little early to be revealing all my trade secrets to strangers, Charlie.” Gen responded and Foggy took a few steps away from her.

“Okayyy, well- pleasure, Gen. Mind if I sit?” He motioned to the seat across from Charlie.

“Be my guest.”

Gen moved around the table and grabbed the seat next to Charlie. Her natural resting bitch face was enough to throw anyone off their game but apparently Foggy had decided to just ignore her. That's what people usually do when they encounter Gen.

“So, Charlie. I hear you’re in some trouble.”

“I am?”

"You are."

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "And where did you hear that, may I ask?"

"From our, uhh,  _ mutual friend." _ Foggy squirmed, eyeing Gen. She sipped her coffee smugly, aware that  _ she _ knew what he was talking about but he didn’t  _ know _ she knew and therefore, she had the power in the exchange. A situation that Gen thrived on. 

“And who might that be?” Charlie asked, also playing dumb. A technique she had picked up at journalism school.

“Gah, what are you calling him . . ." Foggy snapped his fingers and looked at the ceiling, searching for a name. "Patch!" He pointed at Charlie. "I believe you refer to him as ‘Patch’.” He sat back in his seat and crossed his arms clearly looking very proud of himself.

Meanwhile, Gen nearly spit out her coffee. " _ Patch?  _ What kind of name is  _ Patch?!"  _

Foggy pointed at Charlie again. "I don't know. Ask her. She's the one who came up with it."

Gen nodded as if this was normal, immediately accepting the answer. "Of course she did." Foggy and her shared a knowing glance before Charlie threw up her hands. 

"Okay, enough! So you've heard from Patch. Mind sharing how-" She motioned to Foggy. "- _ you  _ fit into all of this?"

“Ah, yes.” He handed her a business card that read:

Nelson and Murdock Law Office

And in smaller print directly below the name:

Now Accepting Clients

Walk-ins Welcome

Charlie’s brow crinkled.“No offense, but why do I need the help of a law firm? Shouldn’t I be contacting the police? Or actually, I mean mercenaries.” When Foggy just stared at her blankly she tried to recover. “I don’t know how these things typically work. This is my first time being a target.” 

“We kinda specialize in your, ah,  _ situation _ .”

“Don’t you guys have more important things to attend to? Like court dates and such.”

“Not particularly, no. We’re running a bit short on clientele at the moment.”  _ Great _ , thought Charlie,  _ nothing like a failing law firm to lend a helping hand.  _ “But, Charlie, I can guarantee your safety should you choose to accept our aid.”

“And how are you going to do that? Guarantee my safety, I mean? No offense, but you don’t really look like the type of guy who can stand a chance against the people who are after me. I’ve seen them in action. I know what they're capable of. This isn’t just some random attack, these men are  _ trained. _ They are on a mission to capture me and, with all due respect, I’m not sure  _ anyone _ can ‘guarantee’ my safety. Not even Patch.”

Foggy stared at her. Even Gen seemed a bit taken aback by her outburst. Charlie knew that Gen took it upon herself to watch over her, both the girls being each other’s only companion for so long. Gen had a quick tongue and an even quicker mind and Charlie was never afraid to take the risks. They were each other's biggest fans, Gen never having used her harsh attitude towards Charlie and Charlie always sharing the hottest gossip she uncovered. 

“Look, why don’t you come to my office. Meet my partner, take a look around, and have a moment to talk to us about everything. We can share what we know about your situation and discuss our opinions on how to deal with it. If, after all that, you’re still unsure, then we’ll back off and give you some time. Give us a chance, Miss Evedyn.”

Charlie took a sip of her coffee, weighing her options. The second attack had left her exhausted, both physically and mentally. She wasn’t sure she could escape a third time. Definitely not on her own and maybe not even with Patch’s help. Her hunters would be anticipating his interference this time around and that was only  _ if  _ he chose to interfere. He could feel that his job was done now that he had alerted this firm of her predicament. This Nelson and Murdock thingamabob may be her only chance. Not to mention the danger this whole situation put Gen in danger by association. And Jabber too, of course.

“Fine. I’ll go with you to your office. On one condition.”

“Anything.”

“Gen comes too.”

Foggy smiled. “Of course, why would we want to leave behind this little cloud of sunshine.”

* * *

The exterior of Nelson and Murdock’s was a disaster. The building was located in a not-so-great part of Hell’s Kitchen (if any part of it  _ was _ great, to be honest) and looked like it had seen better days. The brick had long lost it’s beautiful red sheen and some of the windows were boarded shut. A rat scurried in front of Charlie as she followed Foggy up the steps and she heard Gen gag behind her. 

“Sorry about the building, we only just moved in. We’re the only business here so far.” Foggy stated as he held open the door for the women.

“Can’t imagine why,” Gen remarked, eyeballing the filthy foyer. Charlie elbowed her in the ribs. Foggy ignored the comment. 

He led them through another door and into a basic square room. The only pieces of furniture were a simple portable table and a few filing cabinets. It was even more empty than Charlie and Gen’s apartment and they were fresh out of college, these guys were supposed to be professionals. Behind the counter sat a stunning blonde woman who appeared to be around Charlie’s age. She looked up when they entered the room, beaming a flawless smile at Foggy who returned it with much excitement. 

“Charlie, Gen, I’d like you to meet Karen Page. Our secretary.” Karen extended a hand and Charlie shook it. Gen, much to Charlie’s surprise, did as well. 

“It’s a pleasure. We’ve been working hard to assess your situation, Charlie. I hope that you’ll choose to accept our aid.” She flashed another smile at Charlie and it was all Charlie could do to not swoon. If Gen was a ten, then this girl was a fifteen. Easily.

“I’m not really quite sure what’s going on, to be honest.” Charlie replied. 

Gen raised her hand as if she was in grade school. “I also have no idea, just for the record. Probably even less of an idea than Charlie. I just watch Netflix.”

Karen laughed. A feminine, pleasant sound. “Well, hopefully we can offer you both some enlightenment then. If you’ll just follow me.”

She led them to a neighboring room where a small table and several chairs resided. “If you ladies would just take a seat, we’ll be right back. We need to grab some paperwork and locate Mr. Murdock.”

As soon as Foggy and Karen were out of the room, Gen began her verbal assault on Charlie. It was the only time they had had alone since Gen had checked in on her that morning. “Okay, What the  _ hell _ , Charlie?! You get attacked  _ twice  _ in a period of  _ two  _ days-” she worked to keep her voice down to a hushed whisper. Charlie examined the disgusting butterscotch candies in an antique dish on the coffee table. “- and then we’re suddenly recruited by some sketch attorney business, which, by the way, we  _ definitely  _ can’t afford. And they just happen to know  _ all _ the answers to your problems? That doesn’t seem the  _ least _ bit strange to you?” 

Charlie made a grab for a candy and Gen slapped it out of her hand. 

“Ow, Gen, really? I’m injured.” 

“Oh, stop milking it Charlie, you’re  _ fine.” _

Charlie let out an exasperated sigh, sinking down in the chair. “I don’t know what to do, Gen. We’re in over our heads here. And yeah, I think it’s strange. I mean, what are the odds that a firm with all the answers magically appeared on our doorstep this morning?”

“Honestly, that’s the part that makes the most sense to me,” Gen replied, her eyes piercing Charlie’s from across the table. “Clearly your little mystery man pulled some strings.”

Charlie crossed her arms. “He’s not  _ my _ mystery man.” 

“I’m just saying, Charlie, no ones ever saved me from being raped in an alley.”

“Have you ever been attacked in an alley, Gen?” 

“Not by humans, but a rat definitely came at me once.” She stated matter of factly. Charlie couldn’t stop the snicker that escaped her lips. Gen never ceased to cheer her up. 

“God, this whole thing is whack. I mean, we could be in a trap right now. What if they’re the ones who hired the me-”

“Nah,” Gen interrupted, shaking her head. “Way too stupid. Have you seen Foggy?”

Charlie rolled her eyes. “You had better keep that thought to yourself. I rather enjoy  _ living  _ and so far these are the only people who seem willing to help.” Charlie sighed, finally taking the risk and grabbing a butterscotch. Gen stared, sheer disgust masking her features. “It’s not like I have a whole lot of options right now.”

Gen leaned forward and grabbed Charlie’s hand from across the table, too late to save her from the candy since Charlie had already plopped it in her mouth. “You have another option, Charlie. Me. We can move. Just pack up our things, grab Jabber and head to another city. One with considerably less murderers and street fighters. Like Denver.” 

"Unfortunately, that would only end in both of your deaths and most likely the death of your cat." Charlie looked up at the door to put a face to the mysterious, yet familiar, masculine voice. A man stood in the doorway dressed in a well-pressed grey suit with a simple black tie. It fit his form amazingly well and Charlie could see Gen tense out of the corner of her eye. She’d always had a thing for a well dressed man. Charlie’s eyes traveled up his body and rested on his face. A pair of red tinted circular sunglasses blocked out his eyes. He was blind. “Plus, I hear Denver’s crime rate is rising at an increasingly alarming rate.” 

“Charlie, Gen. I’d like you to meet my associate and partner, Matthew Murdock.” Gen and Charlie greeted him quietly as Foggy squeezed past the doorway and sat down next to Gen. Karen made her way around them both and sat at the head of the table, pad of paper in hand. Matt leaned on the door frame, making no move to sit.

“How’s the candy?” He asked and Charlie couldn’t hide the shock on her face.  _ How the fuck did he know I had eaten a butterscoth? _

“It sucks,” she replied, bluntly. Matt laughed. 

“I knew I should have gotten the chocolates,” Karen muttered and Charlie almost regretted her comment. She didn’t want to hurt the feelings of the secretary, the woman seemed pleasant. 

An awkward moment passed before Charlie finally spoke. “So. . . is this like your first time dealing with protecting an unimportant photojournalist or do you guys like to make this type of thing a priority?”

Matt laughed again and Foggy glared at him. “Miss. Evedyn-” Matt began.

“Charlie. You can all call me Charlie. No need to be formal.” 

“Well, Charlie,” Matt spoke her name slowly as if hearing the word spoken out loud was strange to him. “As you may have guessed, there are a group of people who would like nothing more than to obtain you-”

“Stark observation,” Gen muttered.

Matt continued, ignoring the comment. “- for reasons still unknown to us. It would help us tremendously if you could answer a few questions and offer up a brief history of yourself. This may help us piece together what the organization wants from you so badly.” Karen was writing everything in her notepad to Charlie’s left and she could see Foggy and Gen looking at her from the corner of her eye but her attention was focused on the handsome attorney in the doorway. The one who couldn’t possibly see her and yet seemed to see everything. 

“Organization?” Charlie asked. 

“We can assume, for now, that it is not a group of random criminals hunting you, Charlie. But rather an organized group with a clear motive.” 

“Do you know the name of the organization?” She was still finding all of this a little hard to believe.

“We have a few leads,” Foggy replied.

“And are you going to tell me what they are?”

“Not until we’re certain,” Matt stated as he made his way to a chair at the other end of the table, opposite of Karen. “We don’t want to falsely accuse anyone, but we’ll know for certain in a few days.” 

Charlie nodded and looked down at her hands which were clasped in front of her on the table. She had several broken nails and minor cuts on both hands. All reminders of the ordeals she had had to endure the last two days. All signs she was a survivor. Not knowing who was after her or why was hell, but at least she was taking the steps to find out. If these two men were willing to help her then by all means, she wasn’t going to stop them. 

“What do you need to know?” She looked up making sure she made eye contact with both Karen and Foggy before finally resting her eyes on Matt. He looked in her direction so intently that she couldn’t believe he was blind. 

“Let’s start with the simple stuff. Where were you born? Schools? Family?” Foggy took out a pad of paper as he spoke and wrote a few things down. Karen’s pen moved vigorously. Matt remained perfectly still.

“Oh, umm. Charlotte, North Carolina. I went to a public school in the area, attended an arts college in North Carolina as well. Graduated last spring. One brother. Younger. Parents divorced when I was eleven. Mom still lives in Charlotte, Dad in Seattle. Moved here with Gen a few months ago to try and kick start our careers. We figured if you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere, right?” Charlie scoffed. “Funny how that turned out.” 

“And how did you meet Gen?” Matt asked.

“Wow, god, where do I start? Y’know, I don’t really remember. She’s just always been there. I guess my earliest memory of her was when she would defend me on the playground in elementary school.”

Gen laughed, remembering all the trouble they used to get into. “Yeah, you used to get beat up so bad. I remember thinking ‘why does that poor scrawny girl keep trying to fight back?’ Charlie, if you had just given up they would have left you alone eventually.”

“You know I would never do that.”

“You were never one to back down from a fight, that’s for sure. Or a challenge for that matter.”

“You were bullied a lot in school?” Foggy asked, flipping the page of his notepad. 

“Bullied isn’t exactly the word. Beat up is a better term.” Charlie stated matter of factly. Rarely did the kids ever pick on her in the classroom. It was just when the teachers left that the fists came out. 

“Yeah, she was a huge nerd. Never grew out of it either. In fact-” Gen began before Charlie cut her off.

“That’s not relevant. I got in a lot of fights. Gen defended me. She was the only one who ever did. So I guess we became friends that way.”

“Did you get better?” Matt asked, his voice low. “At fighting, I mean. Did you get better?”

It was an odd question and one that Charlie had a hard time finding the relevancy for in the situation. Charlie stared at him a moment before answering, her voice barely a whisper. “Yeah, I got better.”

“Got  _ better?  _ Damn, girl don’t cut yourself short. She got  _ great _ .” Gen exclaimed, both hands on the table as she dove into a retelling of Charlie’s greatest hits. “One day she was barely holding her own against two older boys from the school _.  _ The little fuckers had her arms behind her back, and were throwing punches into her gut. You see,” Gen hands flurried with the excitement of the story. “They would hit her there because then the teachers wouldn’t know she was getting attacked. She never told anyone either.”

“Snitches get stitches.”

“Charlie, you were  _ already getting stitches.  _ Anyway, she somehow managed to use what little core strength she had back then to lift her legs up and  _ nail _ one of them right in the nose. Once he was down, she did some funky twist thing-”

“Learned it off The Matrix.”

“-to get free of the one behind her and gave him a black eye. By the time I could even reach her both of them were bolting the fuck out of there and Charlie was bawling like a baby. But man, she did it. She stood up for herself. Gen smiled proudly. “My little demon.” 

Charlie rolled her eyes. “When I got bigger, I took some classes and learned some tricks from the fights I had been in before. That and I started to get really into parkour because I had seen some journalists do it to get information on a terrorist group and thought it was super cool. That took up most of my freetime. By the time I graduated high school I could scale a four story building and break into almost any complex. Made good for finding information for stories.” Charlie paused, noticing the raised eyebrows on both Foggy and Karen. “I didn’t  _ steal  _ anything if that’s what you’re wondering. Just the truth, I suppose. The businesses I broke into were often harboring some sick secrets that I exposed to the public. Figured they should stop bullying clients.” Charlie shrugged and scratched the back of her neck. They all just stared at her for a moment except for Gen who smiled like a proud parent. “I was kind of a terror as a teen.” 

“Okay, well. That’s definitely a start. Maybe you have information that these people don’t want to get out to the public,” Foggy offered. 

“But that wouldn’t make any sense. Every breaking story I discovered was only for local Charlotte news. It wouldn’t have affected anything up here. Besides, I just got hired at Stapleton’s. I haven’t had any time to receive an assignment, let alone finish one.”

“Then it must be something else. Perhaps it’s a fear of what you  _ could  _ discover. Or a recruitment technique of some kind.They may want to use you.” Matt scratched his chin. “We’ll do some more research, see what we can find out.”

“Through our mutual friend?” Charlie saw all of their faces change when she mentioned it but she figured they should know what she was thinking. No one had mentioned Patch since they got here and she still didn’t know how he tied into all of this. The initial surprise of her associates was replaced with stony indifference after a few shared glances. Interesting. They were definitely hiding something and clearly they hadn’t expected her to be so blunt. They were in for a bumpy ride if they thought she was just going to sit back and let them figure it all out on their own. This was her life on the line and Charlie wasn’t a damsel in distress. She had a knack for discovering secrets and these people had something to hide.

Karen was the first to speak, surprisingly. “Yes. Through our mutual friend. We’ll be working here to figure as much out as we can and he’ll be working through more, uh,  _ elusive  _ means.”

“Do you mean he’s going to be breaking into shit to get answers? Because if so, I want in.” Charlie sat back and crossed her arms. Sitting and doing nothing made her anxious. She had to  _ do  _ something. If these people wanted to harbour secrets of their own, so be it. But when it came to her life she had every intention of finding answers. She wanted to help.

“Absolutely not,” Matt spoke, a hint of anger in his voice. “You are not going to endanger yourself further by following a masked vigilante around the city a night and breaking into top secret agencies filled with people who want to murder you. That sounds like the exact  _ opposite _ of what you should be doing. Especially with those injuries.” 

Charlie stared at him, slightly stunned at his outburst but also intrigued to know how he knew what the exact extent of her injuries were. She hadn’t spoken of them to anyone, not even Gen and he couldn’t exactly  _ see  _ them. He could be guessing but she found that unlikely. He was clearly the brains behind this operation, there was more to this Murdock man than met the eye. Another mystery Charlie was intent on solving. 

“Well, to be frank. You guys can’t exactly stop me. What are you going to do? Lock me in my apartment” Matt bristled at that. “I want to help. I can’t just sit at home and wait to be attacked again. The sooner we find out what’s happening the better. Plus, I’m a  _ great _ investigator. Not to toot my own horn or anything.” 

Gen rolled her eyes at Charlie before turning to Foggy and Matt. “Look, I don’t agree with her investigating any of this on her own, either. I mean, look at how well her first two encounters with these people turned out.” Gen motioned to Charlie’s bruises. “But there isn’t much you or I can do to stop her, to be honest. She is as hardheaded as she is stupid and she’s going to go out one way or another. Honestly, she’s pretty fucking observant and would most likely prove to be a worthy asset to the team. Maybe it would just be better to let her tag along-”

“What makes you think we even talk with our mutual friend? That we could be privy to his movements or techniques?” Karen asked. 

Charlie stared at Matt across the table. “Oh, I think you all know way more than you’re letting on. About everything, potentially.” 

“No. And that’s final.” Matt growled. “We are not letting an inexperienced journalist follow a vigilante around New York city at night. Not that we could reach him anyway. He comes to us when he has information, not the other way around. You may not believe us, Charlie, but you’re going to have to trust someone eventually. It’s the only way we’re going to get you out of this mess.”

Charlie highly doubted that they couldn’t reach him and honestly, only trusted Gen, but she played along. She knew when to pick her battles. Raising her hands in the air in a mock surrender she figured she’d figure the rest out on her own later. “Fine, fine, fine. Don’t contact him.”

“Do you promise to just leave it up to us? We’ll protect you, I swear. Give your body time to heal.” Matt’s voice had lost it’s aggressive tone and he leaned toward her. “Please, Charlie. Don’t put yourself in harm’s way for no reason. Patch is a dangerous man. He’ll only bring you trouble.”

Charlie looked at Matt, his muscular frame and high cheekbones. He seemed earnest, like a lawyer protecting his client and she didn’t want to lie to him but she wasn’t one to let other people solve all of her problems for her. She wanted to help and if it meant lying to this sexy attorney, then by all means. She would do what she needed to.

“Yeah, sure, whatever. I’ll stay at home and wait around like a useless housewife.” Gen snorted but Charlie never stopped looking at Matt.

“Promise?”

Charlie chewed her lip. “Promise.”

Foggy stood up exclaiming that that was settled and that all she had to do was sign some paperwork but Charlie couldn’t help glancing at Matt. Even though she had tried to sound as sincere as possible in her promise she had a sinking feeling that he knew she was lying. 

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Charlie slipped the black long sleeved shirt over an old pair of thermal Under Armour. The movement hurt her ribs and she let out a small groan.  _ Maybe this isn’t such a good idea?  _ She thought as she bent over to lace black boots. She remembered how Matt had outrightly denied her the right to defend herself like she was some kind child incapable of taking care of herself. The wave of frustration that overtook her was enough for her to finish trying her shoes and stand up a little straighter than she had before. He had no right to act like he was in control of any aspect of her life regardless of if he was her lawyer or not. He was still a stranger and she had been taking care of herself a lot longer than he had, with the help of Gen of course. So, maybe she wasn’t going out tonight for the right reasons, but deciding to seek out Patch seemed like a tiny stab of defiance against a gloomy and controlling patriarchy. 

She grabbed a black vest and scoured through her closet for the knife she knew she had brought with her from home. Shifting some boxes she found the small case near the back, opening it she pulled out the knife and a scrapbook Gen had gifted her during highschool. The binding was beginning to strip off along the outer edges of the thick leather book and Charlie flipped it open to a random page in the middle. A crinkled photo of her and Gen in their senior year of highschool looked up at her. They were both grinning, their arms wrapped around one another in an awkward side hug. Gen’s ginger hair curled all the way down to her waist, this was before she had cut it off declaring herself a woman of the new age. Her familiar green eyes crinkled at the edges as she smiled one of her rare smiles at the camera. She was slightly shorter than she was now but still a good inch or so above Charlie. Charlie, on the other hand, looked almost the same as now. She was wearing too much eye makeup and had more of a baby face but her wild hair was still unmanageable and her clothes looked sloppy-chic. They both looked so carefree and full of life in the photo, grinning like idiots. This was a time before debt and late night attacks from large, scary men. 

Charlie shut the book and returned it gently to the box on the bottom of her closet. She made a silent promise to herself to look through it with Gen soon. Carefully picking up the knife, Charlie realized just how long it had been since she had last used it. Inspecting it closely she noticed a thin layer of rust around its handle and the dullness of the blade.  _ At best, I still risk the chance of walking away tonight with tetanus _ she thought miserably before sliding it back into its sheath and securing it on a strap around her waist. Having the knife offered a small amount of security and she pulled the vest down so it was concealed. 

Although, whether she had the knife or not, Charlie still wouldn’t stand a chance against her previous attackers.

Or Patch, for that matter. She still wasn’t sure if he could be trusted. Despite this law firm that seemed to come highly recommended from him.

Stifling her cynical thoughts, Charlie opened her bedroom door to the sound of the television blaring from down the hall. As usual, Gen was curled on the couch with a very content Jabber, dozing contently. She snapped to attention as soon as Charlie passed her on her way to the front door.

“You can’t be serious.” There was a note of desperation in her voice as she took in Charlie’s solid black night gear.

Charlie stopped at the door and sighed before turning to her friend. “I have to do it, Gen. I have to find out what’s happening to me. And he knows. Maybe not everything, but more than I do. Which may as well be everything.”

“Why can’t you just let the attorneys take care of it? They seem kinda qualified.” Charlie remained by the door and when Gen realized that she wasn’t backing down, she stood up. “I’m coming with you.”

“To hell you're not. This is my mess and I’m going to fix it.” 

“I beg to differ. Your mess is my mess. That fact was decided when we did that ghetto blood oath in middle school. And, on top of that, you’re hurt! What kind of friend would I be if I let you wander the streets of Hell’s Kitchen alone at night dressed like a hooligan searching for one of your fellow hooligan accomplices?” Gen grabbed her jacket from a kitchen chair and buttoned it around herself. “With your luck, you’d probably get arrested, and God knows I can’t afford to bail you out of jail.” She was rattling on now. “And while all of _this_ is happening you’re still being hunted by a band of merry murderers who would like nothing more than to capture you and serve you to their creepy boss on a golden platter. You’ve been attacked _twice_ already, Charlie!” Practically fuming from her outburst, Charlie knew she had to think fast. The last thing she needed was an accomplice on a night she could very well get murdered. Or arrested as Gen had so gently put it.

“No offense Gen, but you have no skills whatsoever that are going to be the least bit useful tonight. I once watched you bend over, out of breath, after going up one flight of stairs. And to top it off your hair is basically a giant glowing beacon!” Charlie gestured to Gen’s head. “Bringing you along is like bringing a small child, you wouldn’t be able to follow me if I needed to get over any buildings and you can’t defend yourself at all!” Noticing Gen’s hurt look she lowered her voice, ashamed at her outburst. “Besides, he may not show up if he sees someone’s with me. This is something I have to do alone. Plus, I’m armed.” She lifted up the vest slightly so that Gen could see the knife.

“Seriously? A rusty hunting knife? The most that will do is give you tetanus.”

“It’s crossed my mind.”

Gen sighed, throwing her hands in the air in defeat, collapsing onto their sofa chair. “How are you even going to  _ find  _ him Charlie? Hell’s Kitchen is huge and maybe tonight’s his night off.”

Charlie hadn’t considered that but she shrugged. “I gotta try.”

Gen walked over to their kitchen counter and grabbed Charlie’s Canon Rebel, shoving it into her hands. “At least take this, make a story out of it.” 

Charlie turned the camera over in her hands. It was bulky and not something she wanted with her if she was going to be scaling any buildings. Especially with her injuries, it was better to travel light. “I don’t know-”

“Take it. Take it and do what you do best, Charlie. Uncover the truth behind this mess you’ve gotten yourself into. And by you, I mean us.” Gen interrupted. She flopped over to the couch and settled down, stroking Jabber’s head. Jimmy Fallon’s voice blasting from the television escorted Charlie out as she slipped out of the apartment, making her way down to the noisy New York street.

* * *

Charlie had been walking for  _ hours. _ She had meandered her way around Hell’s Kitchen hoping to find some sign of Patch or her attackers. _ I should know better than to jump into something before I have a solid lead.  _ Charlie punched the side of the building she was next to in frustration. Her hand vibrated and pain shot up her arm.  _ Okay, I’ve made better decisions. _ Shaking it out, she grimaced and turned around facing the empty street. 

She didn’t know what else to do. She had looked in every corner of Hell’s Kitchen for anything suspicious or shady. Which, for Hell’s Kitchen, shouldn’t have been that hard. Practically  _ everything  _ was suspicious or shady. But of course tonight was the night that the Kitchen decided to clean up it’s act and be all upstanding and respectable. Charlie had seen next to no one on the streets, let alone a band of criminals or everyone’s favorite masked vigilante. 

She sat on the curb and waited. For what, she wasn’t sure but she could feel panic and frustration taking over. What if she couldn’t find Patch? What if she was captured before the goofy attorneys could help? Why was this happening to her? She tilted her head back as she felt the tears fill her eyes. 

That’s when she heard the scream.

It rang through the alleyways, shrill and blood curdling- before it was cut short abruptly. Which is never a great sign. Charlie jumped to her feet and swirled around trying to place exactly where it had come from. Not a soul resided on the street she was on and she quickly picked a direction she hoped was right and jogged down the road. She kept her ears perked for any sound, anything that would tell her she was going the right way. She had no clue what she would do when she found the source of the scream but she would figure it out as she went along. Pretty much her life motto.

She slowed her pace, frantically searching the alleys before she heard the voices. They were coming from a tiny alley about a block up and she quickly ran over before crouching down and twisting to look into it.

Three men had surrounded a young girl, maybe 15 or 16, and were angrily discussing what to do with her. A fourth man had her arms twisted around her back and a hand clamped over her mouth. Charlie could see the fear radiating from her eyes all the way from the street and felt a pang in her heart. She knew what it was like to be in her shoes. While the men argued Charlie flipped back around so that her back was against the wall and she was facing the street. _Think,_ _Charlie, think!_ She ran through multiple scenarios in her head all of which ended in either her or the girl getting brutally murdered and left in the alley. 

Charlie nearly lost it when the hand clamped over her mouth and she was roughly pulled up from her squatting position and pressed against a man’s form. 

“Shh, don’t scream. I’m taking my hand off your mouth now.” Charlie stirred at the voice, it was familiar. Very familiar. 

The man released his hold and she whipped around to face him. 

“ _ Patch?! _ What the  _ hell? _ ” She shouted. His hand quickly covered her mouth again as he shoved her against the wall of the building.

“Really? Could you be any louder?” He whispered harshly. Charlie slapped him across the face and he dropped his hand from her mouth and brought it up to his cheek. “Umm, ow!” He said melodramatically. 

“Don’t you  _ dare  _ cover my mouth again!” Charlie spat pointing a finger at his face. She didn’t stop to think that he could take her down with the flick of his hand but he just smirked like a pitbull that had gotten swatted on the nose by a kitten. 

“Well, try not to yell and give away our position!” Patch retorted, clearly having none of her shit. “Which brings me to the question of  _ what the hell are you doing here?” _ He lowered his masked face until it was directly in front of Charlie’s and she could feel the heat radiating off his body. 

“I could ask you the same thing.” Charlie whispered trying to put his close proximity out of her mind. He both scared and intrigued her but she wasn’t about to let him know it. 

“Are you serious? I kind of do this for a living.”

“For all you know, I could too.”

He cocked his head at her. “I know for a fact that you don’t.”

Charlie raised a hand, ready to fight. “Oh, really? How can you be so sur-”

“Look,” Patch interrupted. “We don’t have time for this right now. But we will be discussing this later.”

Charlie scoffed. “Yeah, whatever Dad.” 

Patch shot her a glare and moved to the edge of the building, looking over at the scene. Charlie, trying to be as professional as possible hunched over beside him and looked over slightly below his head. Her camera was in the way and she shoved it to the side. There was no way she could document this, it would be horrible for the girl. The men were still arguing but the girl was now tied and gagged against the wall of the alley. Her head was down and Charlie couldn’t tell if she was conscious or not. 

“Oh my God, is she okay?” Charlie whispered.

“She’s fine,” he responded, still studying the scene. “Terrified, but fine.”

“How can you be so certain?” She looked up at him as he turned back around to face the street.

“Not important right now.”

Charlie threw her hands in the air. “Of  _ course _ not,” she whispered harshly. “God forbid I was actually on the same page as you about something!” 

Patch’s jaw twitched, the only sign she was affecting him and he quickly changed the subject. “Okay, so four guys. Not too bad. I can take them out easily and get the girl to safety in a few minutes, tops.”

Charlie nodded. “Great. And what do you want me to do?”

Patch turned to her. “Excuse me?”

Charlie motioned to the alley. “You know. What do you want me to do? Tackle ‘em? Stab in the leg with the tetanus knife? Pick your poison.”

Patch just faced her, silent for a few minutes. Charlie imagined that if he wasn’t wearing the mask then he would probably be giving her one of those death glares Gen had mastered years ago. 

“ _ Yeah,  _ none of that. You are not going to be doing  _ anything _ . With or without said tetanus knife,” he hissed. “You are going to stay here because last time I checked you were hurt pretty bad and are in no condition to fight. In fact, even if you weren’t injured, I would not be setting you loose to take down four adult men on your own.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not on my own then, is it?” Charlie rebuked crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re here. And if you go in there slashin’ and dashin’, you’re going to freak that girl out more.”

“You are not-”

“You have no control over me whatsoever. So tell me how to help get to her or I'll just charge in there without you.” Charlie had been at a loss the first two times she was attacked and there was nothing worse than knowing you weren’t in control of what was happening in your life. She knew what this girl was going through and honestly throwing another man into the mix wasn’t always the best strategy. Plus, this was a way for her to regain some control in her life and she wasn’t about to take orders from a masked vigilante. Or from anyone, for that matter.

“Can you stop being a brat for five minutes,” he hissed. Charlie crossed her arms. Seeing that she wasn’t going to back down he finally relented. “ _ Fine. _ I'll take out the men, you get the girl. Get her out of the alley. She’s not hurt so once you get her to the street- call the police. The officers that are on the clock are clean, so she’ll be fine.”

Charlie didn’t ask how he knew that because she knew he wouldn’t answer and nodded. Proud to at least have a job she waited on the curb as Patch scaled the building planning to drop down on the men from above. She waited until she heard the fight breakout before she darted into the alley, staying close to the wall so as not to draw attention to herself.

Patch moved at lightning speed. By the time Charlie made it into the alley one man was already down, presumably the one Patch had dropped on from the fire escape. He was engaged with the others, three against one, but they were no match for him. Charlie heard the sickening thud as a man was hit with a garbage can lid and let out a groan. Everything that was happening reminded Charlie of her attacks and she struggled to remain calm. She had a mission to finish.

She ran up to the girl and began untying her knots, starting with the gag around her mouth. The girl struggled against her at first and Charlie worked to pacify her.

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay, I’m a friend of his. I’m here to help you.” 

“He has  _ friends? _ ”

Charlie grinned at her while she worked on the bonds on her hand. “I know right? He has such an awful attitude.” 

The girl looked at Charlie like she was insane and Charlie had to admit that she was probably right. Here she was criticizing the attitude of a man who only a few feet behind her was bashing another person’s head in with some other kind of alley paraphernalia. But hey, weirder things had happened. 

As soon as the girl was free Charlie tugged her to her feet and ran to the street pulling the girl behind her.

“Do you have a cellphone?” Charlie asked, looking over her shoulder to see that Patch was still finishing one man. The sound of their punches could be heard from the street and Charlie wondered why no one had come outside to see what the ruckus was.  _ Probably used to hearing it around here,  _ she thought. 

“Y-yeah.” The girl stuttered, nodding. Her adrenaline was wearing off and shock was setting in. She needed to get away from here, quick.

“Call 911, I’ll stay with you until they come, okay?”

The teenager nodded and shakily pressed her fingers to the keypad. The sound of sirens filled the air shortly after and Charlie looked back at the alley to see Patch walking up to her. Despite being outnumbered he had come out of the fight fairly unharmed. There were more rips in his black garb and he was bleeding in some places but not too heavily. The wounds all appeared to be superficial. Charlie found herself releasing a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. She’d made it out of yet another street fight with the masked vigilante by her side. 

Patch stopped at the edge of the alley, not stepping out into the streetlights and Charlie knew that was her cue. She looked at the girl who had gone pale in the face and was beginning to shiver. The lights from the emergency vehicles could be seen rapidly approaching.

Charlie placed one hand on the girl's shoulder. “Hey, you’re gonna be fine. Look, they’re almost here.” The teenager turned to look at the approaching cars, as if hearing them for the first time. “I have to go now, but you’re in good hands. Stay outta trouble from now on, okay?” The girl nodded at her and Charlie turned, jogging towards Patch.

The moment she reached him he turned and made his way down the alley and past the unconscious men. Charlie made sure to not look too closely at any of them. She couldn’t decide if they were alive or not and she really didn't want to know. Patch stopped at the fire escape he had jumped off of earlier and leaped up to grab the lowest rung and pull himself up. He reached down to extend a hand to Charlie but she shook her head.

“I got it.” It had been at least a year since she had really practiced her parkour and perhaps trying to do this with some bruised ribs wasn’t the smartest idea but she was going to do it anyway. Patch seemed amused enough to sit back and watch her try with a familiar smirk on his face.

“Okay, but don’t blame me when your ribs hurt even more in the morning.”

“Y’know, I’ve had enough of your attitude tonight.”

“ _ My _ attitude?” He teased. “Who’s the one who basically demanded she be included in a street brawl because of some fucked up version of ‘finders keepers’ in her head?” 

Charlie rolled her eyes, ignoring his retort and backing up, preparing for a running start. She took a deep breath when she felt she was far enough back and ran, leaping at the last minute and reaching for the lowest rung. She knew she had aimed too low a second too late and felt herself falling down when a strong hand grabbed her forearm, another one gripping under her other arm and hoisting her up onto the platform. Charlie let out a small moan as the pain in her chest became next to unbearable for a few moments and she doubled over on the platform to take a couple deep breaths. When she felt it passing she pointed at Patch.

“Don’t. You.  _ Dare. _ Say I told you so. Because I will punch you.”

He put his arms up in a surrendering gesture. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Come on, let’s get to the roof.” 

She followed him up the fire escape, taking in the city around her. They weren’t on the tallest building by any means, just a small apartment complex but the view was still enough to take her breath away. The city lights blocked her from seeing any of the stars she would normally see at home but they kinda worked like stars themselves, all bright and twinkling. Once she had had enough of the view she turned to Patch who seemed to be oblivious to the view and was, instead, focused on her.

“So, is there any particular reason you’re out tonight or do you just like to make things difficult for me?” He got right to the point.

“I’m mostly out because my lawyer tried to tell me I couldn’t be.”

“What are you, fourteen?” Patch sighed. “Maybe your  _ lawyer _ is trying to keep you safe. I say I have to agree with him. Let’s not have the inexperienced, injured girl who just so happens to be hunted by killers loose in the streets of Hell’s Kitchen at night!” 

"Please.” Charlie rolled her eyes. “I've been taking care of myself and discovering secrets since I was thirteen. If anyone can figure this shit out, it's me. I can’t just sit around and rely on them to figure it out when I know I could help.”

Patch stared at her for a minute as if he was debating arguing or not. He seemed to decide better of it which was fine by Charlie since she had no plans of backing down. This was what she came out here to do. “Okay, fair enough. But that still doesn’t change the fact that you’re injured. . .”

“Okay,” Charlie began. “Your point  _ may  _ be valid. But I had to find you as soon as possible to-”

“Wait,” Patch interrupted. “You had to find  _ me? _ ”

Charlie groaned. “I was getting to that part.”

“Sorry. Continue.”

“As I was saying, I needed to find you because I think you’re my best bet at finding out who sent those men. You know what goes on in the underbelly of this city more than anyone else. ”

“And why would you think that?”

“Seriously? That night I was in your apartment and you were all like ‘Good things come with time, grasshopper’ and now you’re wondering why I seeked you out at night to ask for help? You literally fight these people every night. It’s your  _ job. _ ” 

“It’s more of a hobby.” Patch tilted his head to the side. Charlie was quickly discovering what an annoying habit this was because it usually led to conversations she didn’t want to have. “And to be honest, I don’t know all that much. I briefed your attorneys on mo-”

“Well, brief me.” Charlie crossed her arms over her chest. She was surprised that he wasn't fighting her more on this but she knew just how annoying she could be. Gen reminded her almost every day. Patch turned his head in her direction. If she could see the upper part of his face she was sure he would be glaring at her. 

“Maybe another-”

“Now.” Charlie snapped and Patch began to walk towards her and she quickly added feebly, “Please?”

He didn’t stop until he was face to mask with her and Charlie became aware of just how isolated she was and how little she knew about the man in front of her. He was intimidating when he wanted to be. Although in his line of work that was probably a necessity. 

“I really don’t know much. But I think I  _ may,"  _ He raised his finger. _ " _ Key word ‘ _ may’ _ , have a lead on who's organizing the operation. It’s not the person who's signing the paychecks, but it's a start. I was actually planning on paying a visit to him tonight before I ran into you trying to organize a rescue mission by yourself.”

Charlie didn’t want to know what ‘paying a visit’ entailed but she felt hope for the first time in the last couple days. If Patch had a lead, then maybe this wasn’t a lost cause. Maybe she could be saved.

“I wanna come,” She blurted. Patch opened his mouth to resist and Charlie cut him off. “And before you say no because I’m hurt or whatever, I don’t have to fight. Just let me snoop around a bit. I have a great eye. I bet I can get us another lead, if I can sift through their houses maybe I’ll recognize something that pertains to me.” When he didn’t respond she continued. “I wanna help, this is my fight. I mean, just imagine how much damage I could do if you don’t come with me and I end up searching alone. I’m no use to you if I get myself killed.”

Patch considered this for a moment. Charlie held her breath. This would all be a hell of a lot easier if Patch would agree to let her come along, let her prove she wasn’t a liability. Together they would make a great team, what with his criminal fighting and her keen eye of observation. With Patch at her side she wouldn't have to worry about getting attacked anymore and could focus on discovering who's behind this. She shifted her camera from one shoulder to another, a nervous habit she’d adopted in college.

"Okay,” Patch cracked his knuckles. “Say I let you tag along. We would need to establish a few ground rules." He backed away from her and began pacing the building.

"Anything."

He held up his fingers as he counted off his demands. "One. We don't investigate this man until you’re fully healed, or at least close to it."

Charlie groaned. "That could take weeks. I don't have that kind of time!"

"I'll keep an eye on you and make sure you’re safe. You'll be fine. Besides, you're healing quickly. If you would just take it easy a bit, you'd be actually functional in a week."

Again, Charlie found herself wondering at his uncanny ability to know things he shouldn't but figured she would discover the answers with time. "Fine. Next?"

"I need to brief your attorneys on our agreement."

"Uh, I’m not sure why that’s necessary? I'd rather keep them out of it.” She didn’t know who to trust and the less people who were in the loop, the better. “What if they want to come along for court evidence or whatnot?” She pictured Matt attempting to follow into an ambush and getting destroyed by opponents he couldn't even see. She would not be responsible for that.

"They won't come along, but they need to know what you're doing and where we get any information so that they can help us in any way they can. In order to properly utilize them, we need to keep them updated." 

"Whatever. What's the last demand?"

"You can't tell Gen any of this. At all. The less she knows the better."

Charlie was totally on board with keeping this among as few people as possible but she told Gen  _ everything. _ The thought of lying to her face about where she was going and any new evidence relating to the case made her sick to her stomach. She knew why Patch was asking her to do it, Gen would be a hell of a lot safer if she was as far from this mess as possible, but not telling her made Charlie feel more isolated. Perhaps it was selfish to want to keep her informed, but Gen was her last link to home and lying to her severed that connection. Gen was someone she could vent to without worrying about her judging her decisions or cutting her off. She would always tell Charlie the truth regardless of feelings. And that honesty was what had kept them together for so long. Charlie was about to break their number one rule. She took a deep breath before nodding to Patch. He had stopped pacing and was staring at her expectantly.

"Okay. What now?"

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

A week passed before Charlie heard from Patch. She attended work without issue and her life slowly resumed some sense of normalcy. In fact, she was actually beginning to relax. 

Work went by smoothly and she quickly became attached to the two writers, Sarah and Drew. They had an interesting dynamic that seemed to turn off everyone besides Charlie. Sarah, with her short cropped blonde hair and hazel eyes, never seemed to want to do anything other than read and write. She was always buried in a book or surfing the web for new short stories by her favorite authors. In that way, Drew completed her. His chocolate skin contrasted hers completely but his personality was equivalent. The two would often find a corner of the office to sit and compare authors and new stories. Charlie had never seen two people quite so in sync- if you excluded her and Gen, of course. 

Then there was Daniel, their team leader and photographer. After showing her his favorite spot at the office, Charlie and him had kept up a friendly rapport. He kept their small team grounded and Charlie hoped one day to be doing his job as well. She could learn a lot from him.

“Charlie, are you listening?” Sarah was scrolling through her laptop, turning it around to show Charlie. “Drew just had the most fantastic idea.” Sarah had this way of making every article sound like groundbreaking news. Whether it actually  _ was _ was up to Daniel’s discretion. More often than not, Sarah and Drew gave them shit ideas, but still managed to make them sound great in every way, shape, and form. 

“Sorry, what were you saying?” Charlie snapped back to reality. The three of them sat in a small conference room in the office. Daniel was supposed to be here as well, helping plan this week’s article, but instead he had sneaked outside to photos on the roof. He wasn’t one for group projects, more of a lone wolf figure. He reminded Charlie of yet another frustrating individual in her life. 

“I was saying that we should send Shayna and you to the installation of the recycling cans by 4th this Thursday,” Drew’s voice raised almost to a shout. “The city is  _ finally _ picking up the pace and getting caught up to the ages! It’s worth commemorating!”

Charlie stared at him. Not that she didn’t like Shayna, she got along fairly well with everyone in the office, but this was exactly the kind of idea that Daniel typically had to shoot down and Charlie agreed. Usually, Daniel, debby-downer that he was, would immediately end the suffering of these types of ideas saving Charlie the trouble of ruining her budding friendships. 

“Umm, well. . . .”

“I think it’s a wonderful idea!” Sarah chirped.

Charlie muttered under her breath, “Of course you do. . .”

Sarah cocked her head to the side like a songbird. “What was that?”

“Nothing. I just think that we probably have more important things to do than-”

“Recycling  _ is  _ important. What’s more important than saving the already dying and starving planet we happen to call home?” Drew stated.

“Well, it’s just that we-”

“Charlie, we have to do what we can to help save this planet while it can still be  _ saved. _ ” Sarah piped in. Drew grinned at her and they exchanged one of those knowing glances that Charlie thought only 70 year old couples could do.

“If we don’t act now, then the polar bears will become extinct, Charlie!” Drew announced, as if it was Charlie’s personal fault that the ice was melting.  _ “Extinct! _ ”

“I just really think we should run it by Daniel before we make any decisions.”

Sarah groaned. “He’s not even  _ here.  _ He keeps missing meetings, slinking off to whatever cave he hides in when he should be working.” 

__ Charlie figured if there was ever a time to disturb Daniel’s photography sessions it was when Drew and Sarah volunteered her to suffer through a recycling installation. “I know where he is, I’ll go get him.”

“Great,” Drew answered. “Tell him he better come bearing gifts since this is the third meeting he’s missed this week.” 

Daniel was in his usual spot, standing on the roof, camera in hand. The sun was beginning to set and he was backlit by the orange sky. 

“Daniel,” Charlie shouted, making her way across the expanse. “You really should make an effort to show up to these group meetings. Sarah and Drew want us to cover a recycling installation downtown.”

Daniel scoffed, turning to smile at Charlie from over his shoulder before pressing his eye back to the camera. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” 

“Well, you can be the one to tell them.” 

“Okay,” he responded as she stopped beside him, taking in the view. “I will if you agree to go out with me Saturday. Grab some drinks, explore the city.” 

Charlie snorted. “You aren’t going to blackmail me into a date after you missed a mandatory meeting and want to avoid delivering bad news.” 

“Is it blackmail if I tell you I’ll break the news regardless?” 

She smirked at him. “No, I guess not. I think that would just qualify as a regular date then.” 

His expression was warm as he took a few more photos. He refused the business casual motto of the office, choosing to dress in simple dark jeans and a deep green sweater or some other variation most days. Charlie couldn’t deny that she found him attractive and the idea of going on something as simple as a date with everything else that had been happening in her life was very appealing. With Daniel, she could almost forget she was being hunted at all. 

“Okay,” she replied, her eyes never leaving the city. “I’ll go out with you.” 

She felt him stir beside her. “8pm?”

“8pm.” 

* * *

Charlie came home from work on Friday without incident. Gen and her had visited Nelson and Murdock’s the previous day to gather intel and share theories. After a few snip remarks, Matt managed to calm down and treat her like an adult. Halfway through the day she found that she thought his company was actually rather enjoyable and his quips, when not directed at her, made her snort. 

Regardless, her wounds only barely hurt now and her bruises were fading quickly. She knew Patch would come for her soon. 

She opened the front door to the usual scene. Gen and Jabber were buried under a blanket watching some sitcom that Charlie wasn’t familiar with. Gen was munching on some sort of chicken dish slathered in fried dough and sticky sauce and every few minutes she would feed Jabber a piece. There was a reason he was so fat. 

“Yo, I picked up some chinese food. It’s in the fridge if you’re hungry.” Gen shouted from the couch, eyes glued to the screen.

Tossing her keys on the counter Charlie opened the fridge and pulled out the little red and white box. It was still warm from earlier and didn’t need to be heated up so she plopped next to Gen on the couch, careful to avoid smashing Jabber. 

“What are you watching?” Charlie asked through a mouthful of rice. 

“Softcore porn with a  _ slight _ taste of bondage.” Gen’s eyes were glued to the television. “They haven’t reached it yet.” 

Charlie eyed the familiar characters on the screen. “Dude, this is definitely  _ Friends _ .” 

“Same thing.”

Charlie was fairly certain that there was no trace of softcore bondage in  _ Friends  _ but she didn’t respond, letting Gen have her moment. Glancing at Gen, Charlie realized just how lucky she was. Despite being hunted by a bunch of lunatics, Charlie had a good life. She was doing something she loved alongside her best friend in a city of opportunity. She was just going through a rough patch. Or at least that’s what she kept telling herself. 

Charlie scraped the last of the rice from the container and threw it at Gen. It hit her with a satisfying thump causing her to hiss at Charlie like a cat. Smiling, Charlie went to her room determined to read a bit before getting some sleep. Patch may have more information soon and she needed to be ready. 

Curled in bed Charlie was just beginning to doze off when she heard tapping at her window. Her  _ tenth floor window _ . She rolled off her bed and moved towards it, her senses on high alert. All practical reasoning told her it was most likely Patch but she was nervous just the same. What if it was one of her hunters with the developed ability of wings or something?

It could happen.

Charlie snatched her umbrella, for a bit of defense, from beside the windowsill before pushing back the curtains and looking out.

Sure enough, it was her favorite masked vigilante. It had started to sprinkle since she had gotten home and there he stood silhouetted against the city background in a little mist cloud of his own. Drops of rain stuck to his stubble and began to trickle down his neck. He didn’t seem at all bothered by the rain or the dropping fall temperatures. Clearly, Charlie was waiting too long because he was growing impatient. 

“Look, are you going to stare at me all night or let me in because I have more important things to do than stand outside your window in the rain.”

Whipped back to reality, Charlie rolled her eyes and unlocked the window letting a soggy Patch in.  _ Mood killer, _ she thought shooting him a glare. He moved to sit on her bed and she waved him off.

“Get your wet ass away from my bed.” She pointed to a chair in the opposite corner of the room. “If you want to sit go over there.”

He sat down and stared at her for a beat. Charlie crossed her arms, conscious that she was only in a long t-shirt and underwear. She wasn’t exactly prepared for this encounter tonight. When he finally spoke it was only to remark on her appearance.

“You look better. How are you healing?”

“Surprisingly well. You have news?” Charlie cut straight to the point. She was not about this game he was playing. There was no time for dawdling and small talk never got you anywhere even when your life wasn’t on the line. He must have sensed her impatience because he smiled.

“Eager aren’t we?”

Charlie didn’t answer. 

“Okay, okay. You must have questions.” Patch stood up and leaned against the doorframe. Charlie could hear Gen’s television show vaguely through the shut door. She hoped Gen couldn’t hear them talking.

“Yeah, number one being: What’s happening?! Have you heard anything new? Followed the lead? Wait-” Charlie lifted her finger at Patch. “- you didn’t go without me did you?”

He tilted his head at her. “I could have. I owe you nothing, this is something I could do on my own and quite frankly it would be safer.”

It was the same mute argument and Charlie was about to argue when she realized he was right. He didn’t necessarily need her to do anything but he promised and she hoped he was a man of his word. Being a part of discovering what was happening to her was such a strong desire, even she wasn’t sure where it fully came from.

Regardless of his harsh words, she had a feeling that she understood Patch. Knew that he wouldn’t lie or go behind her back. She saw a darkness in him that reflected the one she felt deep down and she felt like she could rely on him to help her survive this. They were in this together. 

“Okay, you have a point. I apologize for being so frustrating about all of this,” she slumped on the bed. “What’s up?”

“Regarding the man I told you about last week, I’ve been doing some research. His name is Charles Greene. I think he may have a part in leading the operation. I was planning on paying him a visit tonight. I came by to see if you were up for it.”

“Of course I’m up for it! Let’s go!” Charlie moved towards the open window, eager to get started. 

“Hold on a second there, don’t you think you need, oh I don’t know. . . pants? Or at least a coat? It is raining outside”

Charlie became more aware of her pajamas and she glared at Patch. “You literally have a  _ mask _ over your eyes. How the  _ hell- _ ”

“Here,” Patch moved towards her closet and sifted through the clothing until he found her raincoat and a pair of pants. He tossed them towards her. “This’ll do.”

“‘ _ This’ll do’  _ “ Charlie mocked as she picked the clothes off the ground. “Turn around patch-boy.”

Patch sighed and turned to face the closet as Charlie pulled on the pants and removed her t-shirt, opting for a thick black turtle neck that allowed free access of movement. 

“Y’know, the benefit of this mask is that-”

“Shh,” Charlie interrupted. “If you don’t want to explain the mask, then we don’t talk about it.”

“That sounds like an excellent way to solve your problems, Charlie.”

She zipped up her coat and shot him a glare. “I’m good to go, are you ready?” 

“Always.” 

* * *

It took a few minutes for Charlie’s eyes to adjust to the darkness in the apartment. 

Patch was already on the move, checking rooms as he moved around furniture with grace. Charlie was consistently impressed with how agile he was. He seemed almost inhuman in his motions.

She, in contrast, made her way around the apartment using only her hands to feel for edges in the darkness. There was little light coming in from the windows and Charlie wondered how Patch was able to work so quickly in such low light. A few minutes past before he appeared next to her again.

“He’s in the bedroom. Asleep and alone.” He whispered, cracking his knuckles. “I’m gonna bring him in here. Can you grab that chair?”

Charlie looked around in the darkness. She could make out lumps of furniture but definitely not a chair. “What chair? I can’t  _ see _ anything.” 

“Oh yeah, sorry.” He moved to a lamp by the couch and flipped it on. Charlie grabbed the chair from the kitchen table and plopped it in front of Patch. “There’s your chair.”

He grunted in response and pulled out a black bandana from his pocket, pushing it into Charlie’s hands. “Here.” 

She looked at it and then back to him. “What is this?”

“To cover your face. It’s probably best that these people don’t know exactly how close you are to the masked vigilante haunting Hell’s Kitchen.” 

Charlie ran her fingers over the fabric. “How is this going to help?”

Patch shrugged. “It’s something. We’ll get a better one for next time.” 

Charlie’s mind was still whirring at the idea of there being a next time when Patch left the room to grab the man. She pulled the bandana up over her nose and mouth before fastening it around the back of her head before she began to pace. She wasn’t sure how she felt about the whole situation. On one hand, she was uneasy. So many things could go wrong. She could get hurt. Patch could get hurt. The man they were about to interrogate could have been preparing for a situation like this, he could have backup lying in wait. A self destruct button. A big dog.

On a moral side, she wasn’t really positive of what Patch was capable of. What if the man didn’t know anything and Patch becomes ruthless? Could she stand by and watch? Would she be able to stand up to Patch? Was she capable of hurting another being? 

Even if it meant preserving herself?

Patch’s fighting never bothered her before because the threat was always obvious. The attackers were always upon them before she had time to absorb what was happening. It was all self preservation, all black and white.

This was a man, sleeping in the comfort of his own home. Sure, Patch had reasonable suspicion to believe he was harmful (or at least Charlie  _ hoped  _ he did). A thought began to dawn on her.  _ Oh my God, what if Patch wasn’t helping at all and just needed someone to pin a murder on? An accomplice? A- _

Patch barged into the room, man in tow, before Charlie’s mind could blow the events even more out of proportion. She pressed herself against the wall, trying to make herself as small as possible as Patch forced the man onto the chair and proceeded to duck tape him down. 

The second the man was contained Patch turned to Charlie and gave her a nod. They discussed on the way over how this was going to go down. Patch would handle the interrogating and Charlie would search the apartment for any information that would lead to the discovery of more partners. 

She ducked her head and slipped down the hall. She could hear Patch beginning to ask questions and the man denying any knowledge. She’d seen enough crime shows to know that no one ever confesses immediately. 

The first door she reached was a simple bathroom. It’s pristine, as if no one actually lives here. The smell of clorox reaches her nose and she holds her breath before closing the door behind her.  _ I doubt anything will be in there.  _

The next room is his bedroom. Pillows and blankets litter the floor. The contents of an entire bedside table are strewn around the ground. Signs of a struggle. Charlie flips on a light switch and begins to pull apart drawers, looking for something,  _ anything. _

And all she got was a whole lot of nothing. 

Frustrated, she throws her hands in the air pushing a bunch of useless  _ Playboy _ magazines onto the ground. A muffled scream ricochets down the hall and Charlie exhales, struggling to regain her composure. She has a job to do.

She flees back into the hall and approaches the final door. 

It’s locked. No issue. She pulls a bobby pin from her hair and hurries to pick it. Yet another upstanding citizen skill she learned from her years in college.

The second the lock clicks open Charlie hears Patch shouting at the man, but she can’t make out what he’s saying.  _ Is he not worried about the neighbors?  _ Regardless, it forces her to work quicker to preserve both herself and Patch.

The small room turns out to be a very cluttered office. Bingo. She throws open drawers and skims every paper searching for a name or corporation that could link this man to her case. She’s about to give up when her eyes fall on a manilla folder buried under sheets of tax information. The cover reads:

Charlotte Evedyn

_ Shit. _

She plops into the office chair, the folder grasped in front of her.

This is it. 

This is what she’s been searching for. It’s cool and light in her hands as if unaware of how it’s contents could change her life. She peels back the cover revealing a single sheet of paper with a picture of her clipped to it. The paper contains her birthday and other basic information regarding her appearance. A handwritten note at the bottom reads:

_ Agile, skilled data thief. Limited combat experience. Non-threatening. Easy target.  _

_ Eliminate at all costs. _

Charlie’s eyes linger on the final two words of the notes this man had gathered from reading her information, semi insulted. She thought of the frail man sitting in the chair outside.  _ I bet I could take him in a fight. _

The paper is signed at the bottom in some illegible handwriting that Charlie can barely make out. Attached to the paper is a receipt for a fairly large sum of money. She folds the paper and tucks it into her pants snug against her hip. The man strapped to the chair outside screams cueing her that it was past time to go. 

She darts down the hall, bursting into the living room to see Patch crouched over a heavily bleeding man. 

“Tell me what you know, I won’t ask again.” Patch’s voice was a low rumble. “I  _ know _ you’re lying.” Malice laced his words. His back was to Charlie but she could tell that he was holding something in his right hand. A knife, probably.

“Patch- I found something. We should get out of here. Someone must have heard us by now.” 

Patch didn’t budge from where he was towering over the man who stared at him with a look of pure terror. 

“ _ Patch.” _

“You go on ahead, I’ll be right behind you.” She could tell from his voice that he had no intention of leaving the man without answers. 

“Patch, he’s just a bloody mercenary. We aren’t going to get anything else from him. He probably doesn’t even know who paid him.” 

She reached forward, grabbing his arm to tug him away, taking no notice of how close she was to the man in the chair. Her grip seemed to knock Patch back to reality and he allowed himself to be pulled back from the shaking man to address her.

“Are you sure?”

Charlie held up the folder, shaking it slightly. “I wish there was more, but this seems to be all he has.” 

It happened in a split second. The man leapt up from the chair, freed somehow from his bonds, and wrapped his arms around Charlie in an instant, pulling her towards the open window they had used to gain access to the apartment. He heaved her against the windowsill, pushing her so that she was leaning backwards out into open space. The folder slipped from her hands and fluttered down to the bustling street eleven stories down. The rain made everything slick and although she struggled weakly against his grip all she was able to do was kick him rather solidly in the knee warranting a grunt from him.

“Really, missy? Kick the man who is the only thing standing between you and death?” His bruised and bloody face broke out into a sadistic grin. He reached forward and tugged down her bandana, revealing her full face underneath. “Ah, there you are.” He hissed and Charlie regretted not grabbing a ski mask from her closet. It may have been harder to remove with only one hand at least. This man had been hired to kill her, after all, and it looked like he may finally be able to finish the job. 

Patch made a run for the window but the man quickly turned his focus to him instead.

“One more step and she goes flying.”

_ God, this is cliche.  _ Charlie inwardly groaned, frustrated at her own stupidity.  _ I shouldn’t have gotten so close. I really am just a liability.  _ She cursed herself silently, trying to find a way out of this. From across the room she could see Patch’s jaw shift and his hands clenching and unclenching. He was thinking too. 

“What? You think I don’t know how to get through duct tape without a weapon. Come on, son. They didn’t hire me for nothing. I’m the best of the best.” The man stated smugly.  _ Well, to be fair, he certainly doesn’t look it,  _ Charlie thought. The man definitely looked weaker than he turned out to be.

“And why did they hire the best of the best to hunt down an untrained woman?” Patch’s head cocked to the side like a puppy. “Afraid she’d be too much to handle?”

“Originally, no. But we started to hear some rumors that a certain vigilante had shown interest in her well being. Had to up the game.”

“Glad I’m worth the upgrade.”

Charlie scoffed. The man turned his attention back to her. “Something funny, cunt?”

It was all Patch needed. In a second he was across the room, pulling the man back into the apartment, Charlie in tow. A fight broke out and Charlie did what she did best- hid. She ran across the room to the kitchen island, dodging debris and punches to maintain her head. Suddenly a masked man popped up over the counter, peering down at her.

“You okay?”

“Is now really the time to be asking?” She exclaimed. 

He shrugged as the man charged across the apartment and leapt at him from behind. Patch side stepped him and the hitman collided with the counter. Hard. Patch brought down his arm on the man’s head and he went down like a rock, groaning.

“I feel like it’s always a good time to make sure you’re alright.”

Charlie rolled her eyes and ran to the window, looking down at the traffic far below, the papers nowhere in sight.

“Dammit, that was our only lead. There was a signature at the bottom that I couldn’t quite make out.” Her unruly hair had fallen out of the tight braid she had put it in earlier and it began to swirl around, damp from the cool rain. A hot tear of frustration ran down her cheek.  _ God Charlie, you’re so stupid. How did you manage to fuck this up? _

She felt Patch’s solid presence behind her and he placed a hand on her back to turn her towards him, using the other to wipe the tear from her cheek. She looked up at him and for a moment everything seemed okay. 

“There will be other leads. No need to waste your tears on this.”

“Easy for you to say, you do this for a living. I’m just trying to make it out so I can continue with my life.”

Patch smiled sadly at her. He looked like he wanted to say something but he stopped. 

“We need to work on your fighting skills.”

Charlie scoffed. “ _ Skills? _ I think that word implies that I had some to begin with.”

He smiled. “Exactly. Tomorrow, we start your training.”

“Excuse me?” 

Patch released her and moved back towards the fallen man, who was now groaning on the ground in pain, before replying. “Can’t have you getting yourself captured again. Makes it look bad on my part.”

“And how is that exactly?” She crossed her arms and glared at him from across the room as he crouched by the man ignoring her comment before whispering into the man’s ear.

“Drop this job. Or else I will find you. And kill you.” He got up slowly, making his way back to Charlie.

“Look, it’s Saturday tomorrow and it’s not like you have plans-”

“Actually,” Charlie interrupted. “I have a date.” 

Patch froze. “A what?”

Her brow furrowed. “Really, Patch? A date is when a guy and a girl get together to-” 

He waved his hand at her. “I know what a date is. I just didn’t think you were seeing anyone.” He hissed. 

“I’m not,” she replied. “It’s just the one normal thing I can do in my life right now and I figured doing it may help me make at least one friend at work.” 

The room fell into silence for a moment before Patch finally spoke back up. “What time is the date?” 

“Eight.” 

“Great, I’ll pick you up at eleven.” 

  
  



End file.
